Chaos on Mobius: Operation Humanity
by TheTodStar
Summary: Eggman may still threaten Mobius itself, but the Freedom Fighters have a bigger problem... in the form of GUN! But the Power of Chaos isn't what it was, and Sonic is imprisoned! However, help is on the way... in the form of an angel who can't fly, and a robot armed with a blue arm cannon. Rated for violence and mature themes.
1. Ch1 Creators and Creations

Previously in Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius...  
Mecha Sonic -Eggman's wayward creation- revealed that he is who he is today because he encountered a sample of the Source of All, which he corrupted simply by touching it! He boasted that he could even beat Sonic AND Robotnik with the power he wielded, but they didn't take that threat lightly... making Mecha Sonic target Eggman in his Egg Beater mech, and Sonic with the seven Chaos Emeralds! SUPER Sonic and Mecha Sonic had quite the intense battle, and Robotnik didn't stand a chance against either of them. So when Sonic unintentionally gave him the chance, he bolted! But when Mecha Sonic provoked him by threatening Sally, Super Sonic turned dark to give the robot some serious damage, before losing all of his power and plummetting down to Mobius after sending the Chaos Emeralds into seven different portals!  
About the same time, Commander Tower said this to every GUN officer: " **Commence Operation Humanity.** " This resulted in Rouge & Patrick being shackled, as well as Omega becoming a loyal GUN robot (due to being under Regina's control). But they weren't the only victims of this sudden rebellion... Tails & Amy were under heavy fire from GUN fighters before losing them in Mobius' atmosphere... the rest of the Freedom Fighters (along with Shadow & Knuckles) were spared from death, thanks to Shadow's Chaos Control... now countless Mobians have been captured by GUN. Including any sympathizers they see... King Elias... and even Sonic!  
Still, not all hope is lost... in the two weeks since GUN's rebellion, the Freedom Fighters have resisted capture, and Sonic may just get help from a certain Goddess of Light... find out as Chaos on Mobius begins its 7th season!

 **TWO WEEKS AGO**  
Within a void of many wonderous colours -as well as many strange creatures that varied in appearance- sat what appeared to be a blue-haired woman wearing clothing that looked _quite_ revealing... but she also looked depressed.  
"*sigh* I know it's been half a century already, but I **still** can't believe that my own creation defeated me. Twice!" She complained, unaware that seven different lights had appeared above her. "And even though I've got my fabulous body back after SO long, I do wish an opportunity would just fall into my lap..." Suddenly, a dark gem landed in her lap! "Oh! And what's this?" Picking the gem up, she noticed a faint red aura was emitting from it, while six more gems rained down around her. All seven gems were emitting different-coloured auras, which was when she realized what the gems were... "Aww! And what happened to make these poor little Chaos Emeralds so dark? No matter. They've still got energy in them... and I think I'll use that energy to do some renovating..." As the woman waved her arms around while giggling, the Chaos Emeralds started circling her from all different angles. Thanks to the Emeralds, the scenery around the woman began to glow rainbow colours, making her happy. "Hmm... now I'm thinking the name 'Labyrinth of Deceit' won't suit this place anymore. How about... the **SPECIAL ZONE?** Yes. That sounds  much better."

Meanwhile, within Eggman's secret laboratory, the mysterious echidna girl was tossing and turning within her capsule, as she was dreaming... _...an echidna that looked like her -although she wore jewelery and few robes- floated in space just above Mobius... except the planet looked like it was suffering from global earthquakes, and the echidna looked like she was using Chaos Energy to keep Mobius together!_  
 _"Sora, you alone are not enough to keep Mobius whole! Let me help you fulfill Madam Chaos' promise!" Said a voice that echidna knew all too well, making her shake her head.  
"I cannot do that, my friend..." She replied, looking at what appeared to be a human woman with long green hair. "You must deal with the threat from the Underworld... and I must keep the Flames of Peace safe from the Dark Lord..." It was then that Sora had an idea, before building up more Chaos Energy. "That's it... if I cannot keep Mobius whole... then I shall make another world to keep Madam Iblis safe... in another dimension!" Using what Chaos Energy she had at her disposal, Sora let Mobius seperate into two whole planets, before opening a portal and throwing the seperate planet inside!_ _After the portal closed, Sora felt quite weak, concerning her friend...  
"Sora, are you all right?" She asked, before the echidna plummetted down towards the now-stable Mobius! "Sora!"  
"(Promise me...)" Sora said to her friend, telepathically. "(...that the people learn of what I have done... to save them... promise me... Palutena...)" With a tear falling down her cheek, Palutena nodded.  
"(I will, my friend.)" She responded via telepathy, as she watched the echidna vanish within the planet's atmosphere. "(Your legend shall live forever, Sora. I promise.)"_ The echidna was startled awake by someone that she couldn't make out cackling as he walked away.  
"(Where... am I? Was everything I saw... just a dream?)" She asked herself as she tried looking around, before closing her eyes again. "Son of Chaos..."

 **Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius**  
 ** _7th Saga: Operation Humanity_**

 _Episode 136_ \- _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter One: Creators and Creations_

 **ONE WEEK LATER**  
Amy, TodStar, Cosmo, Lily and Shadow were outside the wrecked remains of Freedom HQ, defending the entrance from an army of GUN robots and soldiers. Amy used her hammer to send a Beetle's laser back at it, while Cosmo raised some vines up from the ground to send a Hunter flying so Lily could ram into it with her Extreme Gear! TodStar kept punching through approaching GUN soldiers, while Shadow was shooting them with a machine gun he swiped from one of the soldiers!  
"Tails, are you three in yet?" Amy asked while speaking into a device on her wrist.  
"*bzz* Working on it, Amy." Tails replied, as Shadow was holding two of his fingers close his right ear, while TodStar covered him. "Just keep them out of Freedom HQ for a little while longer. *bzz*"  
"You'd better pick up the pace, because Tower just sent a Heavy Dog mech our way!" Warned Shadow, before he Spin Dashed through another group of GUN soldiers, while TodStar threw a Chaos Spear at a Beetle that was shooting at Shadow.  
"I sure hope they can find something in those bloody plans that Nicole swiped from Eggman!" TodStar said to himself, before dodging enemy fire.

At that moment, Tails and Nicole were standing at a console in the remains of the lab -with a flickering monitor- while Sally stood guard with her Ring-Blades active.  
"How long is this gonna take?" Asked Sally, as she looked outside. "Cause it looks pretty bad out there..."  
"You ask us that every time, Sally." Nicole told the chipmunk, as she plugged a wire from the console into her ear, and Tails started typing.  
"Whoa. I think we've got something this time!" Stated Tails, as he and Nicole noticed some images appearing onscreen.  
"And you've said **that** every time." Sally pointed out, but then she saw what Tails and Nicole were looking at. "Are those... grapes?"  
"Sure look like it." Said Tails, before attempting to adjust the screen... by banging the monitor with his hand. Surprisingly, it improved the picture! Somewhat.  
"I'll try to read out what I see..." Nicole pointed out, before reading something onscreen. "Hmm... 'Victims will be...' something-something '...Prison Island once a month. And I've been...' something '...that the King of...' something '...will be first on the list.'" Hearing what Nicole read out terrified Sally... so much so, that she ran out of Freedom HQ in fear.  
"Sally? Sally, come back!" Shouted Tails, before hearing Amy via radio.  
"*bzz* Time to bail, Tails!" She yelled. "We can't handle all of the GUN troops out here!" At that moment, Sally emerged from Freedom HQ, and lunged at the Heavy Dog mech approaching with anger and tears in her eyes. She landed on the window of the cockpit and stabbed through the window to strike the controls with her Ring-Blades, disabling the mech before she jumped off and ran into the Great Plains with tears in her eyes!  
"Sally, what's wrong?" Asked TodStar, but Shadow stepped in front of him and fired the machine gun at the mech.  
"Let her go. We need to get out of here!" He yelled. "Nicole, now!" It was then that Shadow & Nicole used their speed to gather the rest of the Freedom Fighters together -despite Nicole feeling uncomfortable- making the GUN soldiers think they had an easy target...  
"Ready... aim..." Said one of the soldiers.  
"Chaos CONTROL!" Shouted Shadow, TodStar & Nicole, making them and the rest of the Freedom Fighters warp out of harm's way!

 **PRESENT DAY**  
The sun had risen over the temple-filled clouds for a few hours at this point, only the green-haired goddess seemed to have been awake all night, watching GUN soldiers capturing as many Mobians as they could. Seeing so many living beings suffering was breaking her heart...  
"All those poor Mobians... and the humans forced to make them suffer..." She said to herself, before changing the focus of the orb above her scepter. "There's only one angel I trust to help bring peace to Mobius once more..." Once the orb settled, it showed the goddess something that made her look disappointed; A teenage angel-boy snoring in a beanbag chair within a dark room, while holding a Nintendo 3DS with music blaring from it.  
"Pika pika..." Said a voice in the game, sounding defeated as the angel moved slightly in his sleep, making the goddess sigh.  
"And you people wonder why I'm 'cruel' to him..." The goddess muttered, before taking a deep breath... and having a smirk on her face. " ** _Good morning, Pit!_** " This made the angel jump out of the beanbag chair.  
"AHHH! Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!" He screamed, before realizing he was being watched, making him close his 3DS and stand to attention. "Uhh... ahem. Ready for- *yawn* -active duty, Lady Palutena!"  
" _I believe you... is what I_ _ **would**_ _say if you didn't have bed hair..._ " The goddess called Palutena said telepathically to the angel she called Pit, making him blush out of embarressment.  
"Ohh, man... busted!"  
" _From the beginning, Pit. Did you forget about my all-seeing eye again?_ "  
"...maybe." This made Palutena giggle, as well as making Pit nervously chuckle, before he got curious. "If I may ask, Lady Palutena... why have you summoned me so early? The only other time was when the Aurum invaded..."  
" _Wash up first, Pit. That saliva on your face is disgusting..._ " Nodding before yawning, Pit left the dark room in order to get to a bathroom.

Mere minutes later, Pit bowed before Palutena in a large room leading to an altar filled with weaponry, a practice range, and a staircase leading up towards a pair of large doors.  
"So, Lady Palutena... what's the problem?" He asked with sincerity, before his goddess gestured for him to rise to his feet.  
"Pit... the humans of Mobius are rounding up and imprisoning Mobians." Palutena told Pit, shocking him.  
"What? That's horrible!" He exclaimed. "Do you know why?"  
"All I keep seeing and hearing is that they're doing this for ME." Said Palutena, making Pit shake his head in disgust.  
"But that's ridiculous!" He pointed out. "You'd _never_ support something like this! Right?" This made the goddess turn to her side in shame.  
"Not willingly..." She said to herself, remembering the three horrible years when she was possessed. "But you're right, Pit. And because of this, I'm sending you back down there to assist the Knight of the Wind."  
"Uhh... who's that? Sorry, I haven't been paying much attention to this fanfic..." Pit said while nervously chuckling, making Palutena shake her head.  
"It's Sonic." She said as she showed Pit a picture of the blue hedgehog in the orb above her scepter. "Y'know, that hedgehog you fought alongside during The Subspace Emissary?"  
"Oh, HIM! Well, you can count on me, Lady Palutena." Exclaimed Pit as he ran towards the altar of weapons and picked up one that appeared to be styled after Palutena. "I'll help the Knight of the Wind without breaking a sweat!"  
"And I'll guide you in, just like I have in the past." Palutena pointed out as Pit ran up the staircase to the two doors. "Good luck down there, Pit." And with that, the doors opened, allowing Pit to jump out of Palutena's Temple and down towards the clouds. Once Pit spead his wings, they started emitting a blue aura and also started sparkling, allowing Pit to start gliding through the clouds.  
"Yeah! Whoo-hoo!" Pit happily shouted as he flew through the air. "Ahh, it feels good to stretch my wings again! With your help of course, Lady Palutena."  
" _And don't you forget it._ " Palutena replied with a cheeky grin on her face, as she used the Power of Flight to guide Pit down to where she needed him to be...

Meanwhile in the forest of the Mystic Ruins, Shadow and what was left of the Freedom Fighters were awakened by the sun shining in their faces.  
"Wow, that was the most comfortable night's sleep I've had in a long time..." Amy pointed out as she jumped out from a hammock of leaves and vines... only for Lily to jump out after her. Lily also seemed to like that Amy was wearing a purple-and-pink bodysuit with matching gloves, boots, a white belt, and a pink heart-shaped belt-buckle.  
"Yeah, me too." Added the bluebird as she held Amy's hand, while Shadow suddenly picked up a transmission in his radio earpiece.  
"*bzz* HQ calling Spider Troupe. *bzz*" Said a voice that Shadow recognized as Commander Tower, making the black hedgehog bear his teeth in anger. "*bzz* Repeat: HQ calling Spider Troupe. *bzz* Andrews, come in! It's time for your morning report! *bzz*"  
"I sure hope we can find Sally soon..." Tails said as he and Cosmo emerged from a nearby hut. "It's bad enough that Sonic and the King have been captured. I'd hate for that to happen to Sally, too!" Suddenly, the five Mobians heard a scream not too far away.  
"That sounded like Nicole..." Stated Cosmo, making Tails a little worried.  
"Let's go!" Said Shadow, as he made the Freedom Fighters follow him into the forest... _just_ before a group of GUN soldiers jumped down around the perimeter.

As they followed the source of the scream, Shadow and the Freedom Fighters found a terrified TodStar watching over Nicole in a cave. And Nicole looked like she was writhing in pain.  
"Nicole? What's wrong?" Asked Tails, but she couldn't respond.  
"I-I woke up to see her like this." Said TodStar, who was terrified for Nicole. "She hasn't been able to get a single word in." Lily tried to get a look at the back of Nicole's head. But just before she touched the panel, Nicole screamed in agony once again. This time, green-glowing text was being projected from her eyes.  
"SYSTEM ERROR. JEWEL OF ZEUS SHATTERED." The text read as the colour switched back-and-forth between green and purple. "SENDING SECONDARY PERSONALITY TO EGGNET." As the text stopped switching and became purple, the nanites that gave Nicole her Mobian form were being absorbed into her Gizoid body, startling Shadow, Cosmo & Lily, but horrifying TodStar, Amy & Tails.  
"Nicole?! Wake up. C'mon Nicole, answer me!" TodStar begged as he tried shaking her with tears in his eyes, while Tails and Amy were almost as upset as he was. But once the nanites were all absorbed, the Gizoid started sparkling with electricity, forcing everyone to step back. Suddenly, more text projected from its eyes.  
"FILE SPACE UNAVAILABLE. SECONDARY PERSONALITY SENT TO EGGNET FOR STORAGE. REBOOTING PRIMARY PERSONALITY." The text read, before nanites covered the Gizoid once more. However, the nanites did not form the shape of Nicole... instead, they assumed the form of a male grey fox wearing blue jeans, brown finger-less gloves and green-and-white shoes. When the fox slowly opened his eyes, they were black where there should be white, and while one eye was blue, the other was yellow!  
"*yawn* Uhh... hello?" He nervously asked the confused Freedom Fighters. Well, the green echidna was more angry than confused.

At that moment, a child-like blonde goddess was watching GUN soldiers attacking Mobians and setting fire to the trees of Knothole from a small pool of water. Seeing all of this made the goddess punch her fist into the pool, making water splash out of the pool.  
"Oooh! Those inconsiderate humans..." She hissed. "Is there NO end to their rampaging?! Well, if no one else is going to do anything about it, then I guess _I_ will." The goddess then turned to an army of strange plantlife. "Rise and shine, children. It's finally time to wipe out humanity!" As the plantlife either dug down into the ground or flew away, they left a dark angel behind, that looked familiar... "You too, my newest recruit." Before the goddess could say anymore, the dark angel raised an index finger.  
"Let's get one thing straight, here: I'm only here to help you bring down Pit. Nothing more." He told the goddess, making her mad.  
"How DARE you talk to the Goddess of Nature like that! ESPECIALLY when she decides whether to give you the Power of Flight or not!" She angrily yelled, making the dark angel growl in response as he bowed before her, putting her in a better mood. "Hmph. And don't you worry about Pit... knowing Palutena, she'll probably send her precious 'Captain of the Guard' to defend the humans from our wrath."  
"Then I'm in." Said the dark angel, before hearing the goddess clear her throat, making him growl again as he picked up a pair of sharp -and possibly venomous- claws wrapped in red leaves and a purple flower. "Then I'm in... Mistress Viridi." It was then that the angel's wings began glowing a faint orange, before he took flight out of the goddess' lair.  
"And I know you won't let me down... Pittoo..." The goddess called Viridi said to herself as she watched the dark angel fly in her pool.  
" _I REALLY wish you would stop calling me that!_ " The dark angel yelled that Viridi heard via telepathy, before muttering to himself as Viridi controlled his flight. " _Little brat..._ "  
"I HEARD THAT!"

Meanwhile, a capsule opened within a chamber with foggy glass. Inside the capsule was what appeared to be a young human boy with brown hair & blue eyes, a blue t-shirt with white sleeves, black shorts, and big blue boots. When the boy opened his eyes, he looked around before stepping out to attend to the other two capsules.  
"Roll! We're in the right time period!" He said as he knocked on a capsule with a girl that looked around the same age as him inside, before knocking on a capsule with what appeared to be a dog inside. "Rush! Come on out, boy!" The girl also had blue eyes, but she also had blonde hair in a ponytail tied by a large green bow, and wore a sleeveless red dress with what looked like red sandles. The dog was basically just a robot with red and pink colours all over it.  
"Ugh, five more seconds, Rock..." Muttered the girl called Roll as she rubbed her eyes, only to realize what she heard. "Wait. We're **really** in the time before Light Labs?"  
"I think so." Rock pointed out as he and Roll appeared to stare at the glass wall for a few seconds. "Yep, we're here. Now we just have to remember our mission..." With a wave of electricity, Rock's attire changed from casual clothes to blue-and-cyan armor that matched his boots, as well as a helmet. "Rescue Sir Sonic the Hedgehog from Prison Island!"

Roll took Rock's change as a sign for a wave of electricity to change her outfit, as well; The dress remained, but Roll gained navy-blue sleeves, and her sandles were replaced with red boots.  
"I'm still not sure about this, Rock..." Roll said to Rock, who had his hand hovering over a large button. "I don't want us to be known as the robot siblings who ruined their father's career by violating The Three Laws..." Rock then placed his hands on Roll's shoulders.  
"Roll, we won't be violating The Three Laws." He told his twin sister, confusing her. "Think about it; With the military keeping Sir Sonic locked up, they're sealing the fate of their own race. But if we... bring harm to those same humans, like Dad told us to do, if neccessary... that would change the fate of the rest of the humans. Right?"  
"That DOES make sense..." Roll replied, before they both traded one of their hands for cannons; Rock's was blue, and Roll's was red. "But you lead the way... Mega Man."  
"OK, but stay close, Roll." Rock said to his sister, making her nod before he looked down at the dog. "Rush, stay **right** on my tail, OK boy?" The dog responded by happily barking. Rock then pressed down on the button his hand was hovering over earlier, causing the glass wall to lower. This startled a number of GUN soldiers nearby, but as they aimed at the robot siblings, Rock and Roll fired small pellets from their arm cannons at the soldiers! As Rock, Roll and Rush pressed forward, they left a plaque behind in the chamber they were sealed in...  
"MAY MY LOVE FOR ROCK AND ROLL LIVE FOR ALL TIME... - DR THOMAS LIGHT" The plaque read.

END OF CHAPTER


	2. Ch2 Mega Madness Pt1

_Episode 137_

Previously in Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius...  
One week ago, Tails, Nicole and Sally finally deciphered some of the Death Egg plans. What they found wasn't exactly clear, but it was enough to make Sally leave the Freedom Fighters, while they were still fighting off GUN soldiers!  
Moving into the present day, while he may not know it yet, Sonic the Hedgehog is getting some help from two different places: Palutena -the Goddess of Light- & Pit -captain of her guard- from the heavens... and Rock -aka Mega Man- his sister Roll, & their support dog Rush from the future! However, there are two other goddesses who might stand in their way; One has the seven Chaos Emeralds, and the other commands an army of plantlife.  
Meanwhile, Nicole's original form seems to have rejected her in favor of another soul sealed within the robot... a grey Mobian fox!  
Will Rock, Roll & Rush be able to rescue Sonic, or will they need help from Pit & Palutena? Will the other two goddesses get in the way? Where has Sally fled, and why? Who is this mysterious fox, and does he know what happened to Nicole? Find out as Chaos on Mobius continues!

 _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Two: Mega-Madness! (_ _Part One-Icus!_ _)_

Quite a distance away from Prison Island, three different-coloured beams of light shot straight down into the ocean. Once the three beams reached the seafloor, they formed into Rock, Roll and Rush.  
"Are you sure we're out of Prison Island's sensor range, Rock?" Asked Roll, as the blue-armored robot looked at the surface above them.  
"Definitely." Rock replied, looking back at his sister. "According to Dr Light's and... *sigh* Dr Wily's records, they were helping GUN develop smarter weapons at this point in time. And along with their security systems being weak underwater around now, it doesn't look like they had started developing their advanced underwater defenses just yet, either..." Roll once again felt nervous.  
"Still can't believe we could be seen by Past Dad..." She said, but Rock had to snap her out of it by grabbing her shoulders.  
"That's the problem, Roll... he CAN'T be allowed to see us! And neither can Dr Wily!" Roll's eyes widened with realization.  
"Right. Time Man said that could cause a paradox..." Rock nodded in response, before he and Roll armed themselves.  
"Exactly. Now let's get this job done." And so, Rock, Roll and Rush began walking on the seafloor, towards Prison Island...

Meanwhile, Shadow and most of the Freedom Fighters were gathered around Nicole. Only it wasn't Nicole anymore. The Gizoid had now assumed the form of a grey Mobian fox that no one recognized. Everyone was confused, but TodStar was also angry. Especially when the fox opened his eyes...  
"...where am I?" He softly asked, getting familiar vibes from Shadow & TodStar, but not knowing why.  
"Where is she?" TodStar asked back, while slowly clenching his fists. The grey fox seemed confused by the green echidna's question.  
"Come again?" That made TodStar lose a little more of his temper...  
"Don't play dumb with me..." He said with anger in his voice, before grabbing the fox by the collar of his jacket and shoving him into the wall, startling the rest of the Freedom Fighters! "WHERE IS SHE?!"  
"I don't know what you're talking about!" The fox replied, as he tried to pry TodStar's arms away. But this resulted in TodStar pulling him away from the wall before smacking the fox into it again! This action frightened the Freedom Fighters, and concerned Shadow. Especially when tears appeared in TodStar's eyes.  
"What... have you done... with Nicole?" He tearfully asked with fear and rage in his eyes. But the fox wasn't paying attention, as his eyes were shut while struggling to break free... before he kicked TodStar in the stomach, knocking the echidna back.  
"I told you, I don't know!" All this did was make TodStar jump right back up and summon a Chaos Spear in his hand, and aim it right between the fox's eyes.  
"You're **lying.** " He said accusingly, scaring the younger Mobians in the cave, while Shadow decided to step in.  
"Apprentice, that's enough!" He told the echidna, but TodStar stood his ground.  
"Not until this creep tells me what he did to Nicole!" He tearfully shouted, making Shadow grab him by the stomach and start pulling.  
"I said..." Shadow said as he strained. But with help from a frightened Tails & Amy, Shadow pulled TodStar away from the grey fox. "...that's enough." Now free from TodStar's grasp, the grey fox was more confused than everyone else combined...  
"(That was certainly odd...)" He thought, watching Shadow trying to talk some sense into TodStar. "(What did I do to tick that guy off?)" The fox then started to sneak out of the cave without anyone noticing. "(It doesn't matter... I have to get back to the Master Emerald...)"

"I understand your pain, TodStar..." Shadow told the echidna. "...but torturing the poor boy isn't going to get you any closer to answers! He obviously has no connection to Nicole."  
"You don't know that, Master! And I have to do something to help her!" TodStar tearfully yelled, unaware that the grey fox was leaving. "*sniff* Seeing Nicole in so much pain... I felt so helple-" Before TodStar could finish his thought, he heard rocks rolling by the cave's opening. It was then that he spotted the fox running out of the cave! "Oi! Get back here, you little **mongrel!** " TodStar started to give chase, with what was left of the Freedom Fighters behind him.  
"Dammit." Shadow grumbled before chasing after them. But before he could get far out of the cave, a large robot that Shadow recognized slammed the ground in front of him. However, it looked different than the last time Shadow saw it; instead of having colours fitting of the Eggman Empire, its colours now made it look like it served GUN. Plus, the robot still had the grey aura around it, as well as the strange symbols in its eyes. "Omega!" Tails was the only one who heard the thud behind the Freedom Fighters... and he looked concerned for Shadow. "I'll hold him off. Go!" Tails continued after his friends, leaving Shadow with what he called Omega. "Don't make me do this, Omega... you have willpower of your own."  
"NEGATIVE." Omega replied, as he raised his fists in the air. "I AM A ROBOT. I WAS NOT CREATED WITH FREE WILL IN MIND." Omega then tried smacking the ground in front of him, but Shadow leapt out of the way before the shockwave hit.  
"Then what do you call rebelling against Dr Eggman? A system error? A failed virus purge?" Shadow jumped out of range of a missile that hit the ground he was standing on.  
"IRRELEVANT. I AM NOW A LOYAL SERVANT OF THE IRON QUEEN. AND SHE HAS ORDERED ME TO ELIMINATE **ALL** MOBIAN THREATS." Omega then fired a laser at Shadow, but the hedgehog warped away from it before it hit.  
"'A loyal servant of the Iron Queen?' If that means I have to fight _another_ friend, then so be it." As Shadow was saying that, he removed his Inhibitor Rings and charged towards Omega...

At that moment, within Eggman's secret laboratory aboard the Death Egg, Robotnik himself watched as the robot that looked exactly like Shadow opened its eyes.  
"Excellent... awaken, my creation!" The Doctor exclaimed with villainous joy on his face, before backing away from the robot as it booted up. "I am your master, Dr Ivo Robotnik. And you are the second of my Egg Impostor series... EI-002, codename... Shadow Android." After staring at Eggman, Shadow Android looked down at his hands.  
"Shadow... Android." He said, loud enough for the Doctor to hear, as he clenched his fists.  
"Yes, and your purpose shall be revealed to you soon. But in the meantime..." Eggman replied as he stepped towards the exit that opened as he approached. "...why not follow me into this elevator to the hangar? Your big brother, EI-001 is already there waiting for us."  
"Yes, Doctor." Said Shadow Android as he nodded, before following Robotnik into the elevator... when the door opened, there was a robot that resembled Sonic waiting for them. The difference between this robot and Sonic was that it appeared to have a lot of cybernetic parts still visible... "Is this..?"  
"Correct, this your brother, EI-001. But just call him Bionic." Eggman told Shadow Android. "Now then, to test your abilities... I am pitting the two of you against each other! Just keep your weapons offline, I don't want any more of my creations damaged..." While Shadow Android seemed startled at being put to battle right away, Bionic assumed a fighter stance, making Shadow Android reluctantly do the same. "This should be interesting, indeed..."  
"Very well, Bionic... defend yourself!" Warned Shadow Android, making Bionic nod in response, before the two leapt towards each other...

While Robotnik was playing god with his creations, Sonic and Elias were both doing something to make their time trapped in Prison Island a little easier; Elias was throwing a ball that bounced off the wall and the ceiling before catching it. As for Sonic...  
" _Forever he will be my hero... and now that I'm not just a dreamer..._ " ...he was softly singing to himself, as well as playing air guitar. But that all stopped when the door for the elevator opened. Emerging from it first was Howard Watcher.  
"Guess what, Mobian scum! You've got two more humans to share this place with!" He stated, before two humans that Sonic recognized walked in behind Watcher...  
"Hope... and Captain Tower?" Exclaimed Sonic, making Watcher laugh, and Amanda hold Hope close as the poor girl started crying.  
"Don't worry about this place gettin' too crowded..." Watcher pointed out as he led Amanda & Hope into the cell next to the cell Sonic & Elias were locked in. "...we can always cram two or three of you animals into 'solitary confinement!' AHH HAHAHAHA!"  
"Why on Mobius are you two being locked down here?" Elias asked as he held his hands on the bars seperating him and Sonic from Amanda & Hope.  
"For keeping secrets about Mobians from GUN." Amanda bluntly said, which was when Hope turned to Sonic with tears streaming down her face.  
"Sonic, I'm SO SORRY for not telling you about my Uncle Julian! I just didn't know how to tell you or the Freedom Fighters..." She tearfully said, before crying on Amanda's chest again. Hope said something else while she was there, but her voice was so muffled that no one could understand what she said. Well, almost no one...

"Of course I forgive you, Hope." Said Sonic, making Hope look back at him, while both Amanda & Elias were amazed at Sonic's hearing. "You kept tryin' to tell yourself that he was lying, weren't you?" Hope nodded as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "Yeah, me too. But I don't blame you for not telling us... if I found out MY uncle was an evil dictator, I wouldn't know how to break the news to anybody either." Hearing Sonic's words made Hope smile.  
"Thanks, Sonic." She said, making Amanda feel a little better, as well. "It's good to see that being locked in here for two weeks hasn't changed just how kind you are..."  
"Why would it?" Asked the blue hedgehog.  
"Because my father is beyond reason." Amanda pointed out, getting Sonic & Elias' attention. "He's been this way ever since he arrested me... **before** he ordered GUN's rebellion, codenamed Operation Humanity."  
"Wait... your father is Commander Tower?" Asked Elias, making Amanda nod.  
"Yes." She replied. "And I can still remember him loving Mobians when I was a little girl... but recently, he has developed total resentment towards all of you." Both Elias and Hope were horrified by this, but Sonic wasn't convinced. And all of them were unaware of two children walking through the hall, escorted by Watcher and a strange-looking dog... without shackles around their wrists!  
"OK, wait a minute!" He said, getting their attention. "If your old man hates us Mobians SO much... then why'd he trust Shadow with that undercover mission against those black creatures?" Before Amanda could answer, the door for Sonic & Elias' cell was suddenly knocked down, and a siren started blaring! When the two Mobians and two humans looked out the door, they saw what looked like a human boy in armor of blue-and-cyan, with a gun for a hand that was emitting smoke. Behind the boy was a girl that looked to be the same age, who had an arm cannon of her own.  
"Sir Sonic!" The boy said as the cannon on his arm changed to a hand as he reached it out towards Sonic. "We've come to rescue you!"

Mere minutes earlier, Pit was flying high above the ocean, when he spotted an island down below...  
"Is that the island where you saw Sonic, Lady Palutena?" He asked. Palutena herself was trying to get a closer look at the island as she controlled Pit's flight path, but something was bothering her...  
" _I_ _ **think**_ _so..._ " She replied. " _But I can't seem to find exactly where he's being held..._ "  
"What about your all-seeing eye?" Pit joked, but Palutena spotted two children and a dog arriving on the island.  
" _Ha! Joke's on you, Pit. Cause I've found the people I foresaw helping Sonic other than us._ " While disappointed that his joke was pointless, Pit was relieved.  
"I'm glad to hear that, cause I think I've been flying for about three minutes..." Suddenly, Palutena saw something above Pit. And it was aiming at him...  
" _Pit, behind you!_ " Just as Pit looked back, a group of poison darts were shot at him, but he quickly dodged the attack, only to be shocked by the sight of his attacker... " _Pit? Can you see who or what attacked you?_ "  
"I can, Lady Palutena. And he kinda looks creepily happy to see me..." What Pit saw was a dark angel that looked just like him. The only difference was the dark angel had a squad of plantlife behind him.  
"Finally. Let's settle this, Pit-stain!" The dark angel said to Pit, while aiming the pair of claws on his hands at him.

At that moment, Rock, Roll and Rush approached a booth next to a gate on Prison Island. Only difference is, Rock and Roll were in their casual clothes.  
"E-excuse me, Mr Guard-Man?" Roll nervously asked, getting the attention of the guard in the booth.  
"Oh. And what can I do for you sweet little kids?" He genuinely asked her.  
"Well, we were told we could see our dad today..." Said Rock, before scratching the back of his head. "...but neither of us can remember which cell he's in." It was then that the guard saw Rush.  
"What's with your dog?" Roll panicked when she turned to Rush.  
"An experiment. Yeah, he's going through an experimental recovery program." Rock pointed out before Roll started pleading to the guard.  
"Please, sir. Our daddy was framed, and we just want to see him one more time. Please?" Looking at Roll's adorable face, the guard couldn't help but smile.  
"All right, go on in." Said the guard as he opened the gate, letting the three robots pass through to an elevator with another guard standing in front of it. "Just stick with Mr Watcher in there, OK?"  
"OK." Said Rock.  
"Thank you, Mr Guard-Man!" Added Roll.

About a minute later, the elevator opened, making all three robots open their mouths in horror, as they all saw the dozens of Mobians -and even some humans- locked in!  
"*sigh* This sight makes my job all the sweeter..." Said Watcher, before placing his hands on the shoulders of Rock and Roll. "Did you know we've got the great Sonic the Hedgehog down here?" All three robots' eyes lit up when they heard the name. "Not so great anymore! AHH HAHAHAHA!"  
"(I don't like this guy already...)" The robot kids thought in unison.  
"Anyway... where'd you kids say your 'innocent' old man was imprisoned?" Asked Watcher as the four of them walked.  
"All we can remember is that he's definitely on this floor..." Roll replied, as both Rock & Rush found who they were looking for. But he seemed to be in a discussion, which was a problem when Watcher was contacted via radio.  
"Watcher here." He said.  
"*bzz* We've got a problem, Howard!" Said the guard in the booth on the surface of the island. "GUN has no visiting hours scheduled today. *bzz*" While Watcher was listening to whoever was talking to him, Rock and Rush approached Roll pointing her towards a certain blue hedgehog...  
"That's him!" She softly exclaimed. "But how do we get him out of here without drawing attention?"  
"I'm not sure. Think your Acoustic Blaster can take out those cameras?" Asked Rock, as Watcher's eyes widened in anger.  
"Maybe..." Roll replied, unaware that Watcher reached for his gun. "But I don't think it'll be enough for-"  
"Enough for what?" Shouted Watcher, startling the three robots. Especially when they saw him aiming his gun at them. "I had a feeling something was up when you brought that metallic mutt with you..." This made Rush growl at Watcher. "Now whaddya want, you filthy spies?"

After hearing Watcher's question, the three robots knew what they had to do...  
"Rush, NOW!" Shouted Rock as he quickly switched back to his blue-and-cyan armor. Hearing the magic words, Rush clamped his teeth into Watcher's leg, making him drop his gun!  
"YEOW! Why you little..!" Watcher grumbled, before spotting Roll aiming her arm cannon at him, and she too had adapted to her battle attire (but it was orange-and-white instead of red-and-blue). Just as Roll fired a wave of orange energy from her arm cannon that blew Watcher away, Rock was charging up blue energy in his own arm cannon.  
"C'mon, Rock! We need to get moving before our cover's blown to the rest of the island!" Begged Roll as her armored dress colours returned to normal, unaware that Watcher was still conscious a few hundred metres away... and he held his radio up to his mouth.  
"We have a break-out attempt in Sector 7-G!" He angrily shouted just as Rock blasted the door to Sonic's cell open. "Repeat: **Robots in disguise** are releasing Sonic the Hedgehog!" Almost instantly after Watcher made that annoncement, red lights started flashing as an alarm blared.  
"Well... so much for quick-and-easy..." Roll pointed out as Rock climbed into Sonic's cell.  
"Sir Sonic! We've come to rescue you!" Said Rock as he switched his arm cannon back to a hand, while reaching out to Sonic.  
"Aaaand who are you?" Sonic asked.  
"Just call me Mega Man for now." Rock replied as he grabbed Sonic's arm and pulled him out. "We're here to get you out!"  
"Wait... _just_ me?" Asked Sonic, making Rock nod before the hedgehog pointed towards Elias, Amanda and Hope. "What about the Acorn King? And the humans who've helped us? And ALL of these innocent Mobians?!" It was then that Roll placed her hand on Rock's shoulder.  
"He's right, Rock." She told him. "We can't just leave these people here to die!"  
"We won't be." Said Rock, startling both Roll and Sonic. "Someone special to him will come for them. But right now, **you're** our top priority, Sir Sonic!" Just then, a group of gold-coloured GUN Beetles appeared out of nowhere!  
"Fine. One thing, though..." Sonic replied, before using his Homing Attack to ram through _all_ of the GUN robots that ambushed them! "Just call me Sonic." And after giving Elias the thumbs-up, Sonic raced through the hall, Spin Dashing the elevator doors open, and Boosting up the elevator shaft! Rock  & Roll were amazed by what they just saw, before Rock snapped out of it.  
"Rush Jet!" He shouted, making the robot dog turn most of his body into an airboard that he jumped on. "C'mon Roll, let's complete our mission!" After Rock pulled Roll onto Rush Jet, the three of them flew after Sonic, who they suspected would run into GUN resistance... leaving Elias free to escape his cell.  
"My fellow Mobians... on my honour as the Acorn King of Knothole, I swear that you will all be freed from this prison in due time." He stated. "I shall be back with help as soon as I can. Please stay safe until then!" And with that, Elias climbed up what was left of the elevator shaft.

Meanwhile, on Angel Island -complete with the remains of the Freedom Flyer crashed into the Red Mountains above Lava Reef- the mysterious grey fox teleports into the cavern seperating Lava Reef from the Hidden Palace.  
"I just hope I'm in the right place..." He said to himself, as he walked closer to the Hidden Palace. But once he arrived within the palace, he saw a large gem that he knew all too well. And it made him happy as he ran towards it. "Oh, thank Chaos you're all right!" He also felt a familiar presance within the Master Emerald. "I'm so sorry to have been gone for so long. But I'm here now... Tikal." But then the fox heard a voice he did not know...  
"Step away from the Master Emerald." Warned the voice. When the fox turned around, he saw a red echidna that looked very similar to the green echidna.  
"Who are you?" Asked the fox.  
"I think the better question is 'Who are **you?** ' Now are you gonna start talkin' or am I gonna start thowin' punches?" The echidna replied as he started swinging one of his arms around.  
"You can call me Zeus. The Guardian of the Master Emerald." The fox said casually, making the echidna angry.  
"Now I know you're makin' that up..." The echidna pointed out before leaping towards the fox, with his spiked fist out in front. "...cause **I'm** the Guardian of the Master Emerald!" The fox leapt off of the altar _just_ before the echidna could punch him, leaving a dent in the stone altar.  
"Hmph. Same old echidna style... head-on assault." Stated the fox as he sighed while crossing his arms. "Some things never change..."  
"You just gonna MOCK me?" The echidna angrily asked before jumping down to the fox's level. "Or am I gonna have to put my FIST where your mouth is?"  
"All right... bring it on." Said the fox -seeming uninterested- making the echidna charge towards the fox filled with rage!

END OF CHAPTER


	3. Ch3 Mega Madness Pt2

_Episode 138_

Previously in Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius...  
Nicole seemed to have disappeared from the Gizoid's systems, allowing a mysterious Mobian fox -calling himself Zeus- to emerge. Despite a violent interrogation, TodStar didn't get any answers about Nicole before the fox escaped his grasp! Everyone gave chase, but Shadow was ambushed by Omega, who was still under the Iron Queen's control! "I'll hold him off. Go!"  
Pit and Palutena searched for where Sonic was being imprisoned. And while Palutena found Rock, Roll & Rush carrying out their mission, Pit found trouble in the form of Pittoo- "Stop calling me that!" -and the Forces of Nature! Meanwhile, the three robots successfully infiltrated Prison Island and found where Sonic was locked up, but their cover was blown once they found him!  
As for the mysterious fox? Zeus found his way to the Master Emerald within Angel Island. And a certain red echidna wasn't too happy to see someone else that close to the large gem...  
Can TodStar recapture Zeus and get him to talk, or will his brother Knuckles pummel Zeus before he gets the chance? Can Shadow get through to Omega, or will he be forced to fight one of his closest friends? With little flight power left, can Pit survive against Dark Pit and the Forces of Nature? Can Mega Man and his family help Sonic escape from Prison Island, or will GUN have new toys to play with? Find out as Chaos on Mobius continues!

 _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Three: Mega-Madness! (_ _Part Two-Icus!_ _)_

The forest of the Mystic Ruins was slowly getting burned to the ground, as Shadow the Hedgehog & E-123 Omega were locked in a fierce battle between each other! Omega was not himself, and Shadow had removed his Inhibitor Rings in order to fight the mind-controlled robot. Shadow landed a hit from his Chaos-fueled fist, but Omega quickly countered by grabbing Shadow's leg and throwing him into weapons range.  
"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOUR FATE, SHADOW." Iron Omega warned as he fired missile-after-missle at Shadow, but the Ultimate Lifeform kept avoiding them as best he could. "I WAS CREATED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF CAPTURING STRONG LIFEFORMS SUCH AS YOURSELF." Shadow then knocked Omega off his feet with a quick Chaos Spear, before ramming into the robot's chest with a Homing Attack!  
"Only _I_ can decide my fate, Omega!" Shadow replied as he leapt up into the air, with a look of regret on his face. "You should know that better than anyone. Chaos..." As Shadow raised his hands up in the air, energy started to appearing between his palms, before he swung his arms down so his palms were facing Omega. "...BLAST!" Shadow then unleashed a high-powered beam of Chaos Energy from his palms at Omega, but Omega blocked it with an energy beam of his own! After a few seconds, Shadow felt himself starting to fall closer to Omega. And while he used the exhausts on his shoes to stay airborne, he started feeling weak, while Omega still looked ready for battle. "(Maria... Blaze... I've failed you...)" At that moment, Shadow's Chaos Energy ran out, and Omega's beam attack blasted right through him, making the black hedgehog scream in great pain! Once Omega's attack ended, Shadow fell to the ground, unconscious.  
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED." Stated Omega as he picked up Shadow. "IN THE NAME OF THE IRON QUEEN, I SHALL DELIVER SHADOW TO COMMANDER TOWER MYSELF."

Just before Omega could leave with Shadow, the robot was hit in the head by a spanner. When Omega turned his head, he saw Lily Bluebird, who was responsible for throwing the spanner... but that gave Amy the chance to swing her hammer into Omega's side, making the robot lose his grip on Shadow... but Tails caught him!  
"You want Shadow? You're gonna have to beat all of us, first!" Amy pointed out, making Tails, Lily & Cosmo nod in agreement.  
"FOUR MOBIANS SUCH AS YOURSELVES ARE NO MATCH FOR SHADOW." Omega stated. "ERGO, YOU HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST ME."  
"Don't be so sure!" Said Lily as she charged towards Omega on her Extreme Gear, dodging lasers from Omega in the process. Just as Lily got to Omega's back, she spun the end of her spanner around the screw of a panel on Omega's back, causing the screw to loosen before she slammed her spanner on the panel hard enough for it to open. "Cosmo, you're up!"  
"Here goes..." The Seedrian said to herself before thrusting her hands towards Omega, which made vines appeared from the ground and wrap themselves around Omega! One vine even made it into Omega's circuitry, since Lily got the panel on his back open!  
"DOES NOT COMPUTE. DOES NOT COMPUTE."  
"Tails, now!" Cosmo shouted, making Tails give Shadow to Amy.  
"I hate to do this, but you've given me no choice!" Said Tails, before he started twirling an electrical cord above his head. Moments later, Tails threw the end of the cord at one of the vines that Cosmo summoned. The cord was "plugged" into the vine that had gotten into Omega's back, giving the vine and Omega a serious electrical shock!  
"ILLOGICAL. ILLOGICAL. SYSTEM ERrrorrrr..." With that electrical attack, Omega collapsed due to shorting out.

Now that Omega was defeated, what was left of the Freedom Fighters had gathered around him.  
"What should we do with it?" Asked Cosmo.  
"I say we smash it, right now!" Amy angrily shouted as she raised her hammer above her head, but Tails jumped in her way.  
"Amy, didn't you hear him earlier?" He asked. "He said he was loyal to the Iron Queen. That doesn't sound like the Omega that Shadow's friends with..." This made Amy place her hands on her hips, not liking where Tails was going...  
"What are you suggesting, Tails?" She asked back, making the two-tailed fox shrug.  
"I don't know. Maybe Lily & I can try reprogramming him?" This made Lily step forward to place her hand on Amy's shoulder.  
"If it means having another ally against GUN, I'm willing to try..." Amy eventually sighed in response.  
"Fine. But you two are carrying him into the cave! Me & Cosmo have got Shadow."  
"No problems there!" Lily said with a smirk on her face, as she carried Omega on top of her Extreme Gear. Meanwhile, Tails suddenly looked worried.  
"(I only hope TodStar is doing okay...)" He thought.

Meanwhile, within the Hidden Palace on Angel Island, Knuckles charged towards the fox, but he quickly jumped out of the way of a punch. Knuckles kept lunging at where Zeus landed, but the fox kept jumping out of harm's way, making Knuckles mad.  
"Stop moving! **Thunder Arrow!** " Knuckles shouted, unleashing a barrage of arrows at Zeus, but the fox evaded every shot with his agility. Knuckles tried to jump towards Zeus again, but this time throwing Thunder Arrows while airborne. This group of Thunder Arrows actually hit Zeus, but despite the smoke coming off of his body, he didn't seem too fazed by it.  
"I see your 'thunder'..." Zeus mocked, making the red echidna leap towards him again. "...and I'll raise you **lightning!** " Once Knuckles was in range, Zeus hit him with a fist full of electricity, sending him flying away from the Master Emerald! But once Knuckles stopped skidding across the floor, he immediately jumped back up to his feet, and he looked beyond angry...  
"That won't stop me from pummelling you down to the Realm of Iblis!" He furiously shouted as he ran towards Zeus again, who sighed in response.

Before Knuckles could get close enough, a brief flash of light appeared in between the two, making Knuckles stop in his tracks.  
"...CONTROL!" Shouted TodStar, as he appeared from the light in between Knuckles and Zeus.  
"TodStar! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Exclaimed Knuckles. "Think you could gimme a hand smackin' this guy into next week?" TodStar then placed his hand on Knuckles' shoulder.  
"Not yet, bro..." He replied after shoving a sandwich in his mouth and swallowing it, before turning to Zeus. "I want answers, first." This made Zeus roll his eyes and cross his arms.  
"This again..." The fox grumbled. "Listen, I already told you... I don't know what you're talking about, and I certainly don't know anyone named Nicole!" Knuckles was startled by the mention of Nicole, while TodStar was quick to anger.  
"And I reckon you're lying! Especially with you rollin' your eyes like that!" TodStar replied. "Look, you emerged from the Gizoid _right_ after Nicole's last couple spasms." This made Knuckles gasp in both realization and shock. "That tells me that you know **something** about what happened to her. Now are you gonna start tellin' the truth, or do my brother  & I hafta beat it outta ya?" This made Zeus angry.  
"That's it. I am fed up with you calling me a liar!" He pointed out before he cracked his knuckles, making them spark electricity. "If you want a fight, then give me your best shot!" Just then, a familiar-looking green sword appeared in Zeus' hands, horrifying TodStar...  
"YOU have a Chaos Blade?! HOW?!" He asked, before Knuckles smacked his fists together.  
"New plan: Punch first, ask questions later!" The red echidna suggested, as Chaos Energy started to flow through his arms and hands.  
"*sigh* Fine." TodStar replied, as he did the same as his brother.

During the fight on Angel Island, Pit was staring up at an angel that looked just like him, except he had an army behind him...  
" _So THIS is where he disappeared to after the fight with Hades..._ " Palutena pointed out, as she watched from above.  
"Pittoo... you're with the Forces of Nature?!" Exclaimed Pit, making the dark angel angry.  
"Will you quit calling me that?" He angrily asked Pit. "I just got done telling Viridi & the narrator the same thing!"  
" _Oh, stop your whining!_ " Said a voice that Pit & Palutena knew all too well. " _Pittoo is much zippier to say than DARK PIT._ "  
"She's actually right." Pit pointed out, before his back started to get warm. "And as much as I'd like to talk about this, I really need to land now! Lady Palutena?" The Goddess of Light didn't answer right away, as she was distracted by something else...  
"(Impossible... I thought those hedgehogs and that cat sealed him away together...)" She thought as she witnessed something near a familiar large gem...  
" _Lady Palutena? Are you still there?_ " Palutena heard Pit asking via telepathy.  
"Oh, right! _Sorry about that, Pit. Going down!_ " Palutena replied, before she guided Pit down to the roof of the only building on Prison Island. Dark Pit tried to give chase, but he'd forgotten something...  
"*sigh* MISTRESS Viridi? Do you want me to kill all humans or not?" He asked, making the child-like goddess angry.  
" _Ugh! And I thought Phosphora's singing was annoying..._ " She grumbled, before she guided Dark Pit after Pit, and her Forces of Nature followed.  
"Thank you." Dark Pit said, before he started shooting at Pit, but the light angel was too far out of range, making Dark Pit growl... "Next time I run into Pandora..."

Just as his wings were starting to give off smoke, Palutena got Pit down low enough for him to roll onto the roof. But that didn't stop Dark Pit from shooting at him!  
"Leave Pit-stain to me. You all do what Viridi wants you to do!" Dark Pit told the Forces of Nature as he landed on the roof, making the flying plantlife start attacking the GUN guards patrolling the island!  
"No! Leave the humans out of this!" Yelled Pit, as he fired a blast from his Palutena Blade at one of Viridi's forces. But Dark Pit slashed through it with his Viridi Claws before running towards Pit. Just as Dark Pit was about to slash at Pit's chest, Pit blocked the attack with his blade. "Why, Pittoo? Why have you sided with Viridi?!"  
"Tch, I don't need to explain myself to a puppet like you!" Dark Pit replied, before shoving his foot into Pit's stomach, kicking him away!  
"Ouch. I'm not so sure he can talk like that anymore..." Pit said to himself, before looking behind him to see the GUN guards struggling to fight back against the Forces of Nature. "It's bad enough that so many innocent Mobians are suffering. Do the humans have to suffer too, Viridi?!"  
" _Until they stop causing so much pain to the environment -as well as the Mobians- yes they do, Pit!_ " Viridi yelled back, startling Pit. " _Now if you'll just stay out of our way, we can get rid of all the humans on this island._ "  
" _Hold on Pit, I've sent some reinforcements your way._ " Palutena told Pit, before a variety of angel soldiers flew down from the heavens to fight the Forces of Nature!  
"Centurions! Oh, great timing, Lady Palutena!" Exclaimed Pit, before he ran towards Dark Pit shooting a blast from his Palutena Blade at him, but the dark angel slashed through it again as he ran towards Pit. Their weapons impacted each other just as before, before trying to slash at each other again, and Dark Pit fired small shots from his Viridi Claws at Pit. Pit jumped out of harm's way while shooting small shots from his blade, making Dark Pit roll out of the way before firing a more powerful shot from his claws at Pit, but Pit blocked it with the more powerful shot of his blade. During the angels' fight, Palutena's Centurions were quick to take out Viridi's Forces of Nature, despite a few losses.

" _You win this round, Palutena. C'mon, Dark Pit. We're falling back._ " Said Viridi as a beam of sunlight surrounded by leaves shone above Dark Pit, and he was not happy about it.  
"No! I've... almost... got him!" He yelled, trying to resist Viridi's pull, but it was no use. Once the Forces of Nature retreated, the GUN guards on the ground below Pit started cheering.  
"Bless you Pit, captain of Palutena's guard!" Said one of the guards as they all bowed before Pit, making him blush.  
"Aww, you guys don't need to do that!" Pit told them as he shyly scratched the back of his head, making one of the guards stand.  
"But we must. If the Goddess of Light is to answer our prayers..." He told Pit, sparking his curiosity.  
"What prayers?"  
"That you and your warriors will help us wipe out the Mobians." This made Pit wave his hand in disagreement.  
"No, no-no-no. That's not why we're here!" This news startled all of the GUN guards.  
"It's not? Then why _are_ you here?" Asked the same guard.  
"We're here to help bring peace between you and the Mobians again." Some of the guards were uncomfortable about this news, while others were angry. "We helped bring that peace during The Great War, and I'm determined to do it again!" Suddenly, the same guard Pit was talking to aimed his gun at Pit. Palutena saw this, and she was as horrified as Pit was, except she could do something about it...  
"Reflect!" She shouted, before the shield on her left arm flashed for a split-second... just as the guard fired his gun at Pit, a see-through rectangular barrier appeared in front of Pit, startling him as it deflected the shot up into the air!

"Fire! Fire!" Shouted the head guard in the area.  
"But sir-" Argued another, but he inturrpted.  
"The Age of Palutena's Eclipse is repeating itself, soldier! We have to fight back before it's too late! FIRE!" The GUN guards all started firing at the barrier, but all of their shots were being deflected.  
" _That Reflect Barrier won't hold for long, Pit..._ " Palutena pointed out, as a beam of light shone from above Pit and the Centurions. " _I'm getting you all out of there!_ " As Palutena pulled Pit and her Centurions away from Mobius' surface, the entrance to the building exploded! From the smokey remains came Sonic, Rock, Roll and Rush!  
"All right Roll, let's give him some cover fire." Rock told his sister.  
"Okay." She replied, just before Sonic zipped along the ground, Spin Dashing into a robot that was just deployed! The human guards tried shooting at Sonic, but either he was too fast, or Rock & Roll shot the guns out of their hands!  
" _Even I can feel the power... when I think of him, I see no fear... feel no pain..._ " Sonic proudly sang as he Boosted across the sea after knocking out more guards and robots, making Rock & Roll fly after him with Rush Jet.

While GUN was distracted by Viridi's Forces of Nature, a Mobian managed to sneak their way into the building by jumping into a nearby vent, and crawling through to an opening where several Mobians -and even some humans- were locked up. The Mobian got attention from the prisoners when they jumped out of the vent after kicking the grate out. This Mobian looked a lot like Sally Acorn, but she was wearing -almost- completely different clothes to the Princess of Knothole; Red boots with white lining, a familiar blue Ring on each wrist, a tiara with an acorn in the center of it, and a leotard that covered everything but above her chest and her legs. The bottom-half of this leotard was blue with a white emerald pattern on it, while the top half was red with a golden acorn on the chest.  
"Hey, isn't that Princess Sally?" Asked one of the inmates.  
"No, that's the famous heroine from Knothole!" Exclaimed another inmate, before holding her head. "Crud, I've forgotten her name..." The mysterious Mobian was lucky there were no guards around -they were busy with the gods AND Sonic- as she could release all of the Mobians from their cells, thanks to the Rings on her wrists! She even managed to release the humans locked in the room, as well, including Hope and Captain Tower!  
"Excuse me!" Hope shouted as she grabbed the Mobian's arm, startling her before she turned around. "I'm sorry, but you look familiar..."  
"Yeah, do we know you?" Amanda added.  
"You know who I am..." This confused the human women before she continued. "...your Warrior of Justice, Wonder Acorn!" With that, Wonder Acorn led everyone she freed to a wall that she soon sliced through with her Rings, letting everyone escape the island onto a nearby boat... before she looked around for someone else. "Captain Tower, weren't King Elias & Sir Sonic in that section of the prison?"  
"They were, but both of them were released by some human-like robots that seemed like they were against GUN..." This concerned Wonder Acorn, before she jumped on the boat with the rest of the escapees and started sailing towards the mainland.  
"(Sonic... Elias... PLEASE be safe...)" She thought, before driving the boat away from Prison Island...

Back within Angel Island's Hidden Palace, both echidnas roared when they disconnected their spiked fists, as bursts of Chaos Energy exploded from them, making them both stronger. Knuckles' fur/spines and eyes turned green as he emitted a green aura. While TodStar's fur got a little brighter, his eyes turned pink, he started emitting a sky-blue aura, the ring that was keeping his dreadlocks tied-up starting glowing and floating above his head like a halo, and a sword just like the one Zeus had appeared in his hands.  
"Time to knock the truth out of this con artist!" TodStar stated.  
"Let's see just how much of a Guardian you **really** are!" Yelled Knuckles, before he and TodStar roared towards Zeus, and the fox did the same to them. As the three combatants approached each other, Zeus started rolling -like a Spin Dash- catching the echidnas off-guard, before swatting his tail through their legs, making them both trip! As Zeus and TodStar backflipped, TodStar attempted to slash at one of the fox's legs with his Chaos Blade, but he blocked it with his own Chaos Blade! As the two swords repeatedly impacted each other, they created small bursts of Chaos Energy that caused damage to the walls of the Hidden Palace! Once the two were at ground level again, Knuckles saw an opportunity... " **Thunder Arrow!** " Knuckles threw several stronger Thunder Arrows into Zeus' back, but it didn't seem to affect him all that much... apart from using his tail to grab TodStar's leg and throw him at Knuckles!  
"Interesting... that attack matched the taste I gave you earlier..." Stated Zeus, before his Chaos Blade suddenly disappeared, and a purple aura appeared around him, and it made both echidnas uncomfortable.  
"(This dark power... it feels familiar...)" Knuckles thought as electricity surged across Zeus' body.  
"(...Mephiles?)" TodStar asked himself while gritting his teeth, and Zeus' eyes started glowing brightly.  
"How about I show you what an electric shock **really** feels like!" Shouted Zeus, before shooting a constant stream of lightning at the echidnas! TodStar quickly warped out of the way, but Knuckles was getting the shock of his life. Unknown to Zeus, TodStar had appeared on the fox's side, and he had his Chaos Blade pointing upward as he was building up energy...  
"Chaos... BLAST!" Yelled TodStar, as he released a beam of Chaos Energy from his sword at Zeus. The beam was powerful enough to push the fox into a familiar-looking mural! When the beam vanished and the fox fell to the floor, a hole was found in the mural, and what appeared to be a different bright colour could be seen through the hole. Getting up on one knee, Zeus angrily looked at TodStar, who had lost his energy, and was panting as his Chaos Blade disappeared. Zeus looked at Knuckles, who was also panting. Despite their exhaustion, both echidnas were determined, making Zeus build up an electrical charge... but before he could unleash it, the Master Emerald started glowing, and the half-visible form of Tikal emerged from the large gem. But she looked angry with tears in her eyes.  
"The three of you, STOP THIS SENSELESS VIOLENCE!" She tearfully screamed, making the three warriors look up at her. "The Power of Chaos is unstable enough as it is!"

As the echidnas were battling the strange fox, Eggman watched his two hedgehog impostors fighting each other... before Orbot & Cubot floated towards him.  
"Hey uhh, Mr Boss-man?" Asked Cubot.  
"Can't you see I'm busy being entertained?" Eggman asked back, sounding distracted.  
"Yes, but we intercepted this message from GUN, and I think you'll be interested with what it says..." Stated Orbot, while handing the Doctor a tablet. The screen had the following that indeed intrigued Eggman: PRISON ISLAND SUFFERED ATTACK FROM PALUTENA'S ARMY. MANY MOBIANS ESCAPED CUSTODY, INCLUDING SONIC THE HEDGEHOG & KING ELIAS ACORN. RECAPTURE AT ONCE. DEAD OR ALIVE.  
"Send a battalion of Badniks to capture the king at once." He ordered, while handing Orbot back the tablet.  
"But what about Sonic?" Asked Orbot. "And that Mecha Sonic monstrosity?"  
"Sonic's too busy running away from GUN for me to worry about. As for that treasonous titanium... I seem to recall watching footage of GUN gathering up what's left of Mecha Sonic a few weeks ago. And they wouldn't **dare** try to use him against me..." Eggman replied, dismissing Orbot's concern. "Just focus your efforts on capturing the Acorn King -ALIVE- and making sure that the my new chamber is ready to be activated." Both robot lackeys nodded before floating away, leaving Eggman grinning as he watched his latest creations fight each other.

Bionic leapt towards Shadow Android, but the Shadow impostor slid under the Sonic impostor, before jumping back to slam Bionic into a wall with a Homing Attack! Bionic wasn't finished yet, as he tried Spin Dashing at Shadow Android, but Shadow Android leaned back to avoid the attack.  
"Hmph. Your attacks are as predictable as the blue hedgehog himself." Shadow Android pointed out.  
"That's the idea, Shadow Android." The Doctor exclaimed. "While Bionic can't speak, his fighting style matches Sonic's exactly! And while Bionic may have a harder time convincing anybody that he's the real Sonic, **you** should have no trouble convincing people that you're the  real Shadow! HAAH HAHAHAHA!" While Shadow Android seemed sceptical, Bionic knocked him off his feet with a Homing Attack! When Shadow Android had one knee on the floor, his right hand started glowing red, and Robotnik knew what that meant... "Hold it! I said no weapons, didn't I?" This made Shadow Android growl as his hand returned to normal colours. "Anyway, that should be enough. You don't want to get TOO damaged for your mission, after all..."  
"What _is_ our mission, Doctor?" Asked Shadow Android, as Eggman led him and Bionic back into the elevator.  
"Well... my original plans for the two of you involved capturing Sonic & Shadow, and replacing them amongst GUN and the Freedom Fighters..." Eggman replied, before the elevator opened into the secret laboratory again. "...but since GUN's efforts have changed my plans, I'm making the two of you the bodyguards of my latest addition to the Egg Imposter series." Shadow Android's eyes widened with curiosity as Robotnik showed him & Bionic to the last unopened capsule... because he detected the lifesign of a Mobian that couldn't be identified...

Meanwhile, Rock, Roll & Rush followed Sonic to a road on the mainland... that led to a place where it looked like the Knights of Mercia were fighting off GUN soldiers and robots, as well!  
"Jeez! Is there **no** place safe from GUN?!" Sonic asked.  
"According to my memory banks, I'm afraid not, Sir Sonic." Rock replied as he place his hand on Sonic's shoulder, but Sonic shoved it right off to look at the robot boy. Little did they know that the name caught the attention of another knight...  
"And stop calling me that!" Yelled Sonic. "I'm not worthy of calling myself a knight anymore..."  
"Hmph. The late King Rob would be rolling over in his grave if he heard that..." Said a voice that sounded familiar. When Sonic and the three robots turned, they saw what looked like Shadow in armor.  
"Lancelot?" Asked Sonic. "What happened to the King?" Before Lancelot could respond, a beam of light destroyed the robots it surrounded. From above, the light formed a triangular pattern. The light came from a young blonde human woman wearing a pink dress with golden armor. The woman was sitting on the back of a giant blue bird that Sonic recognized, while the blue hedgehog also saw a young human man jump off of a red bird of the same species; He wore a green tunic that Sonic knew all too well, as well as a blue scarf with red lining, that also had the same triangular pattern, along with the man's shield. As for his sword, it was white all over. Seeing these two humans -as well as the human soldiers armed with swords & shields behind them- Sonic felt like he was trembling.  
"Who are they?" Asked Roll. "I can't find these people in my records..." But Sonic knew who they were...  
"LINK AND ZELDA?!" He asked in utter disbelief, as he watched the two humans he mentioned prepare their swords.  
"For the kingdom of Hyrule!" Shouted the woman Sonic called Zelda as she raised her Rapier in the air, making the soldiers behind her -as well as the man called Link- scream into battle.

END OF CHAPTER


	4. Ch4 Lost in Darkness, Suffering Chaos

_Episode 139_

Previously in Sonic The Hedgehog - Chaos on Mobius...  
Despite all of his strength and even trying to reason with him, Shadow was quickly defeated by Iron Omega. But that didn't stop what was left of the Freedom Fighters to take him down!  
Within Angel Island, Knuckles and Zeus began their fight, but TodStar showed up and demanded answers from the fox. When Zeus denied knowing anything about Nicole, the three got stronger and fought once again. The battle got intense enough to cause damage to the Hidden Palace, which was when Tikal intervened, begging them to stop.  
Above Prison Island, Pit & Palutena learned that Dark Pit had sided with Viridi's Forces of Nature. When Pit asked why, Dark Pit didn't answer. He just wanted to fight Pit! But as the Forces of Nature started attacking GUN, Palutena sent some of her Centurions down to defend the humans, making Viridi pull her forces back. While the GUN guards were grateful, they also hoped that Pit would help them wipe out the Mobians. When Pit said that he hoped they could live in peace, the guards started shooting at him and the Centurions, claiming that the Age of Palutena's Eclipse was repeating itself. But they were so focused on Palutena's Army that they forgot about Sonic escaping the island with Rock, Roll & Rush! They didn't even notice that a "mysterious" heroine called Wonder Acorn releasing the innocent Mobians and humans!  
When Sonic, Rock, Roll & Rush arrived at the mainland, they found the Knights of Mercia fighting GUN troops... until a different group of humans arrived to help. Leading the charge were two people that Sonic thought weren't real... "LINK AND ZELDA?!"  
Now that the Freedom Fighters have shorted him out, is Omega free from the Iron Queen's control? Can Tikal convince her descendants make peace with Zeus? Why has Dark Pit sided with Viridi, and why has GUN turned against Palutena's Army? Can Sally keep the innocent fugitives from Prison Island safe? How do Link & Zelda exist in this world, when Sonic knows them from elsewhere?! Find out as Chaos on Mobius continues!

 _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Four: Lost in Darkness, Suffering Chaos_

It was a dark and stormy night within Station Square. Crime may not have been present in this city anymore, but GUN soldiers were stationed on the corner of every block... and there were plenty of vehicles on patrol, either on the road, or in the air... but not one of them seemed to notice a red & grey robot who looked very similar to Mega Man on one of the buildingtops...  
"These humans..." He muttered as his yellow scarf blew in the wind. "How can my father work for such monsters?" As his sunglasses prevented any possible onlookers from seeing his eyes, the robot scanned for life-signs beneath the city... and sure enough, he found GUN soldiers, scientists, agents, and other members of this now corrupt military. He also detected the life-signs of imprisoned Mobians, which made him angry enough to switch his right hand for a cannon, much like Rock's & Roll's... and grabbed the shield off his back with his free hand. "You're mine, Tower." Suddenly, the robot boy leapt from the buildingtop, and fell through a manhole cover so fast that all anyone saw was the cover flipping in the air before landing back in its rightful place!

Meanwhile, a war on three fronts had just begun in the land of Mercia. One third was the Knights of Mercia, defending their home from any and every human they came across... another third was a battalion of GUN soldiers and robots, under orders to capture anyone who defies Operation Humanity... the final third was a group of Hylian soldiers, attempting to retake their home of Hyrule for their warrior princess, Zelda... and caught in the middle was Sonic the Hedgehog, along with his rescuers; Rock Light (aka Mega Man), his sister Roll, and their dog Rush.  
"What do we do now, Rock?" Roll asked her brother, as they all watched the three-sided battle unravel in front of them.  
"I-I'm not sure..." Rock replied, with his hand firmly placed on his arm cannon.  
" **I'll** tell ya what we do now..." Said Sonic, as he turned to face the three robots with him. "...we get those two to team up against GUN _and_ we back 'em up!" With Sonic Boosting ahead, Rock, Roll  & Rush ran after him, towards the three-sided battle...

Just as Lancelot and Link were about to clash their swords together, Sonic raced in between them, which made them look at the GUN soldiers he was fighting. While they gave each other a glare, Lancelot & Link ran after Sonic to help, forcing the other Knights of Mercia and the warriors of Hyrule to do the same. Without knowing it, Sonic actually zipped past a magical Hylian girl as she used magic from a book to knock out a group of GUN soldiers! But he certainly got her attention with how the other two sides had teamed up to attack the military...  
"Such speed and leadership..." She exclaimed as Zelda approached her. "Is he with the Knights of Mercia, Your Highness?"  
"I don't think so, Lana..." Zelda replied, also impressed by Sonic's speed, as well as the weaponry of Rock & Roll.  
"I suppose you're right... he lacks the armor they always have..." Lana joked, before a quick giggle. "(But maybe _that's_ the one my master needs to see...)" Another group of GUN soldiers were shooting at Galahad, who kept blocking the shots with his powers... but it ran out as the soldiers reloaded! Just as Galahad prepared for the worst, Mega Man -with his armor coloured green  & white- stepped in to block the rapid fire with a rotating shield of leaves, before Roll -with her dress now coloured purple & white- jumped over Galahad and blasted the soldiers with a burst of fire! As Sonic raced around another group of soldiers to create a tornado, Lancelot noticed that Link was being overwhelmed by one last group... so he threw what looked like red Chaos Spears at Link's shield, which bounced back and hit all of the GUN soldiers in range, knocking them out cold!

After the GUN soldiers retreated with their "wounded," the Knights of Mercia gathered around Sonic to celebrate their victory, making Rock & Roll smile.  
"Cheers to the Knight of the Wind!" Exclaimed Gawain, as all of the knights juggled Sonic up in the air above them. And while Sonic enjoyed the feeling, he still felt guilty.  
"Guys, guys! Cut it out!" He shouted before Spin Dashing out of the circle and fell to his knees. "I'm not worthy of calling myself a knight anymore... my sword was destroyed a few weeks back... and I failed to save Mobius from Eggman..." While the Knights of Mercia were shocked, Rock & Roll also looked sad for Sonic, as the blue hedgehog looked at his right hand in shame. "I don't even deserve my old man's gauntlet..."  
"But Sonic, in our time, you're known as the Hero of Mobius." Roll said as she stepped forward.  
"You mean a time that you've changed just by coming here?!" Sonic angrily asked back, scaring Roll. Sonic even pulled the gauntlet off of his hand, and threw it as far as he could, scaring the Knights of Mercia! Fortunately, the gauntlet landed just in front of Princess Zelda, who picked it up and approached Sonic with three of her loyal warriors behind her.

"Excuse me, but I believe this belongs to you..." She said to the blue hedgehog, who seemed to ignore Zelda. "You should listen to your friend, nimble warrior. The way you rallied the Knights of Mercia _and_ my Hylian army against those advanced soldiers was incredible!" Sonic still refused to face Zelda, making her bodyguard have her Giant's Knife rest under Sonic's head!  
"It is rude to turn your back on the rightful ruler of this land." She bluntly told the hedgehog, but that sword was pushed away from Sonic, thanks to Lancelot's sword!  
"And **you** would be wise to remember that the Knights of Mercia control these lands in King Rob's stead!" He yelled.  
"You seem to forget that royalty trumps knighthood, Lancelot!"  
"I have forgotten nothing, Impa. I am merely keeping my promise to my late king." That was when Mega Man stepped between Lancelot & Impa with another Leaf Shield.  
"That's enough!" He shouted. "My sister and I came back in time to **prevent** further tragedy, not cause more!" This got Lana's attention, as well, which was when Rock turned to Sonic as his Leaf Shield disappeared, and his armor returned to its natural blue  & cyan colours. "Sonic, you can't tell me that you don't see yourself as a hero... especially after pulling off heroic feats like these..." Projected from the eyes of Rock, Roll & Rush were holographic images of Sonic's earliest heroic days; Spin Dashing through Badniks in the Green Hills of South Island... rescuing a young Amy Rose from the clutches of Snivley and the Gizoid on Little Planet... Tails carrying him across the Aquatic Ruins of West Side Island... ascending Angel Island's Sky Sanctuary... teaming up with Tails to save Little Planet & Nostalgisland from Dr Eggman's junk mech... Seeing his past before him like this, Sonic couldn't help but smile.  
"You're right, kid." He said to Rock. "Things might be pretty bleak right now, but I'll fix 'em all!" The robot children felt good about what they did for Sonic, but that's when Rock turned to face the Knights of Mercia and the Hylian warriors...

"Now, I may not know much about this war between Mercia and Hyrule, but it seems to me like you're all fighting to protect a land that is sacred to you all, right?" He asked, making every single warrior nodded in agreement, which made Zelda smile as she handed Sonic's gauntlet to Lana. "Then why not just protect it together?" Lancelot responded to this by spinning his sword in the air... before thrusting it down into the ground and extending his hand out towards Zelda.  
"The boy is right, Your Highness." He told her. "The Knights of Mercia shall work with the Warriors of Hyrule to restore this land to its former glory." Zelda gladly accepted Lancelot's offer, and shook his hand.  
"This shall be a day long remembered, Sir Lancelot. I'm sure your king would be proud." She happily stated, as Lana approached Sonic & Rock. "Let us bring Mercia & Hyrule together, as one!" Everyone watching cheered in agreement, but that's when Lana grabbed Sonic & Rock.  
"Okay, you two need to come with me." She told them. "My master has something important to tell you both!" Before either of them could question or protest, Lana used her magic to throw herself, Sonic & Mega Man into some strange portal... that spit them out in front of a cave that Sonic recognized...  
"So... your master is Merlin. Big whoop." Stated Sonic blunty, but it certainly got Rock's attention...  
"Merlin? As in Merlin Prower?!" He asked, before a girl in robes emerged from the cave.  
"All will be revealed by our master." She said, before glaring at Lana. "Lana."  
"...Merlina." Lana hesitantly replied, while giving Merlina a look of confusion as they led Sonic & Rock into the cave.

As they walked deeper into the cave, Sonic had a question on his mind...  
"So, Lana..." He said, getting the blue-haired girl's attention. "You seem to know Link & Zelda pretty well... how can they be real, when I've been playing games about those two for as long as I can remember?!"  
"Well... did you ever stop to think that those games were based on true stories?" Lana subtly asked back with a giggle, making Sonic question those games he played as a cub... before the three of them reached a cloaked Mobian fox within the cave. "I have returned, Master Merlin." When Merlin showed his face to the three, he seemed confused by the sight of Lana. "You sent me to the Valley of Seers some time ago?" It was then that his eyes lit up in realization.  
"Ahh, of course!" He exclaimed, before giving his pupil a hug. "But I thought I lost you to the darkness of the Underworld..." Lana looked a little guilty hearing that.  
"You'd better sit down, Master. I have quite the story to tell..." She said, before the four of them sat within the cave, as Lana began to tell her tale.

Meanwhile, as Elias sailed away from Prison Island on a GUN speedboat, he looked back, feeling nothing but guilt...  
"I know I can't help all those prisoners now..." He said to himself. "...but it just doesn't feel right to leave them behind." Just as Elias was about to turn around, a group of Egg Flappers and an Egg Hawk flew down to surround the boat.  
"King Elias Acorn, you must come with us to the Death Egg." Said the Egg Robo piloting the Egg Hawk, making Elias mad.  
"And if I don't?" He asked, before speeding away in the boat. But the robots all gave chase.  
"You will either come with us willingly, or by force. You must choose." The robot replied, as the Egg Hawk hovered in front of the speedboat, making Elias stop in his tracks and raise his hands while cringing. "A wise decision. Dr Robotnik does not want his test subject damaged." The Egg Pawns on either side of the Egg Hawk jumped onto the boat to capture Elias.  
"(Sally... I hope you and the Freedom Fighters are having an easier time dealing with this crisis than I am...)" He thought as he was handcuffed and escorted towards the Egg Hawk.

When Shadow woke up that evening, he found himself with the remaining Freedom Fighters in what appeared to be a severly-damaged facility... and he had his Inhibitor Rings back on his wrists.  
"Ugh... wha? Where am I?" He asked, getting the attention of Amy.  
"We're hiding in what's left of Robotropolis." She told him as she helped him sit up. "Try not to work yourself up, Shadow. Omega did a real number on you..." Amy then showed Shadow the inactive Iron Omega that Tails & Lily were working on.  
"Ngh. What are they doing to him?"  
"Trying to reprogram him. I think." Cosmo then had a question as she checked on Shadow's injuries.  
"Do you know anything about that Iron Queen that he was telling you about?" She asked, making Shadow place his hand on his head.  
"I... remember Rouge mentioning her at least once when I was with GUN." He replied, as Tails & Lily approached the three. "From what I recall, the Iron Queen can make any and all robotic technology obey her commands..."  
"Technomagic." Added Tails, getting Shadow's attention. "That's what's keeping Lily & I from getting Omega back to normal..."  
"So there's no way to get him back?" Amy asked, making Lily shake her head.  
"Not unless we have another robot here that can neutralize the Technomagic..." She replied, making Shadow look at his friend with anger and concern...

At that moment, Commander Tower could hear gunfire coming from outside his office. And it was getting louder...  
"This is Commander Tower. What on Mobius is going on out there?!" He asked, while holding a finger on the intercom on his desk. Before he got a verbal answer, his office door was blasted open, making him shield himself under his desk! "Who's there? Show yourself!" Tower only heard two sounds after that... one of them was an unfamiliar tune being whistled.  
The other was the sound of strange footsteps getting closer... walking into the office was what appeared to be a boy wearing a red-and-grey suit, a flowing yellow scarf, and jet-black sunglasses. And the red cannon on his right arm had smoke seeping from the barrel... which he then aimed at Tower's head!  
"You're the one who came up with Operation Humanity, aren't you?!" He angrily asked. "You're the one responsible for imprisoning and killing so many innocent Mobians!" Tower didn't take kindly to that accusation. And he made that clear by slamming his palms on the desk.  
"Those disgusting Mobians are ANYTHING but innocent!" He shouted. "But I wouldn't expect a little boy like you to understand..."  
"I am no little boy, Commander..." The "boy" replied, as he turned the cannon on his right arm into a hand that grabbed Tower and pinned him to the wall and threatened to punch him! "...I am Proto Man!" Just then, the boy heard a loud clank behind him. When the robot boy turned around, he saw a robot somewhat resembling Sonic behind him.  
"Tell you what, Blues..." Said Tower, getting Proto Man's attention by the name. "...if you can defeat Mecha Sonic there, you can _try_ to kill me. **If** the Three Laws let you, that is..." Barely struggling with what Tower just said, Proto Man shoved him to the ground, before turning around and arming himself with his cannon and shield against Mecha Sonic, as it felt like the entire office was being lifted up higher...

Meanwhile, Pit and the Centurions returned to Skyworld, where Palutena was waiting for them, making Pit feel guilty.  
"*sigh* Take five, you guys." Pit told the Centurions, before bowing to Palutena in shame. "I'm so sorry, Lady Palutena. Please forgive me for failing you..." It was then that Pit felt Palutena's caring hand on his shoulder.  
"It's all right, Pit." She said in a loving tone. "You didn't fail at all. Remember me mentioning those people who would help us rescue Sonic?" Pit slowly nodded in response. "Well, it was their mission to rescue Sonic. We were just the distraction." Hearing this, Pit looked up at the Goddess of Light in confusion.  
"You mean... you **knew** that Viridi  & Pittoo would attack?" He asked, making Palutena shake her head.  
"Not exactly. I foresaw that someone would try to stop us from completing our mission, but I didn't think it would be Viridi... and especially not Pittoo..." Palutena then grabbed Pit's hand. "But that's not important right now..." She led Pit to two different reflecting pools; One featured Sonic & Mega Man with Merlin in his cave, while the other featured Knuckles, TodStar & the mysterious Zeus with Tikal in Angel Island's Hidden Palace.  
"Uhh... why are you showing me these?" Asked Pit.  
"It's important, Pit. So you'd better listen to what's heard from both pools..." Palutena replied, making Pit try to focus his attention on them...

"...and that's how and why I returned to Mercia." Said Lana, concluding her story to Merlin. While he and Rock were certainly intrigued, Sonic had fallen asleep. "Or Hyrule. I don't know what we're calling this place anymore..."  
"You certainly have led a tragic life since you left for the Valley of Seers, my dear..." Merlin pointed out, making Rock nod in agreement. "And while I would like to help you heal those emotional wounds, we have urgent matters to discuss with Sir Sonic. And we don't have a lot of time..." The three looked at Sonic, who was still sleeping... until Merlin used magic to create a small explosion from the fire before him.  
"Zzgh-wha-huh?" He asked, before yawning. "What'd I miss?"  
"Merlin was about to tell you something important..." Rock replied.  
"It is concerning the Chaos Emeralds." Added Merlin, getting the hedgehog's attention. "What was the last thing you did with all seven of them?"  
"Uhh... I fought Mecha Sonic in the Death Egg. Why?"  
"Well, it would seem that the Chaos Emeralds have not only lost all of their positive energy, but they have also disappeared from this realm..." Stated Merlin, making Sonic remember just how he fought Mecha Sonic.  
"No... NO!" He cried, getting everyone's attention.  
"...Sonic? What's wrong?" Asked Mega Man with genuine concern in his voice.  
"Mecha Sonic... he pushed my buttons... and I got angry... about as angry as when I found out about my family..." Merlin, Lana and Rock were startled by what Sonic was telling them. "...and I must've thrown the Emeralds into a totally different world when I ran out of power..."  
"Which is why **you** must be the one to find and restore all seven Emeralds." Merlin pointed out, making Sonic got to his feet.  
"You're right. I'm not gonna let her down this time..." He replied, before walking out of Merlin's cave determination.  
"Hey, wait up!" Rock shouted as he ran after Sonic. "(Who did he mean by **her?** )"

At that moment, Tikal had just finished telling the same story to Knuckles, TodStar and Zeus. However, both male echidnas were keeping their distances from the fox...  
"Even after that fight we had when we first met here on the island... I always thought Sonic was a good guy..." Knuckles suspected, making Zeus think.  
"(Sonic... why does that name sound familiar?)" He thought, as TodStar turned to Knuckles.  
"I know the bloke; like he's another brother to me. If Sonic used the negative power of the Chaos Emeralds, something must've **made** him do it." The green echidna pointed out, making Tikal float down to their level.  
"You are correct, TodStar..." She told her friend. "Your friend was indeed provoked. And because he has sent the Emeralds into a completely different realm, all Chaos Energy around Mobius has become very unstable..."  
"...which would explain why I haven't been able to travel far with Chaos Control lately..." Tikal then nodded at TodStar's assumption, which made Zeus speak up.  
"Could this also be why I suddenly woke up, after all this time?" He asked, making TodStar glare at him as Tikal nodded again.  
"And I must ask the three of you to make up before you leave here..." Said Tikal, which resulted in the male echidnas and fox to turn their heads away from each other.

But that was when Zeus spotted the hole in the mural that he and TodStar created...  
"Hey... this hole wasn't here before our battle, was it?" He asked, getting the echidnas' attention. It looked that the image of was appeared to be Eggman had been damaged, and was replaced by something green... and gold...  
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, Knux..." Added TodStar replied, feeling guilty. But Knuckles noticed something familiar about what was in the hole. "Knux? Bro?"  
"Look at the crescent moon, here." Knuckles stated, while pointing to the gold crescent shape in the hole, before pointing to the crescent moons on his and TodStar's chests. "Looks a little familiar, doesn't it?"  
"Yeah? What're you getting at?" Asked TodStar. While Knuckles didn't answer verbally, he did start climbing on the mural in order to start shattering what it originally prophisiezed, startling TodStar quite a lot! "Knuckles! What in the Realm of Iblis are you doing?!" Knuckles didn't answer, as he was determined to uncover what appeared to be a secret. A secret that Tikal seemed curious about, as well. Soon, Knuckles jumped off of the mural, and he joined the shocked crowd by looking at the new mural; The right half was completely black, but the left half depicted the sun in the top-left corner, and a green echidna with his dreadlocks in a familiar style reaching out to the center of the mural. While they all looked at the very confused TodStar, Knuckles used a Chatter Ring to get in touch with the Chaotix.  
"Vector, can you bring Relic into Hidden Palace?" He asked, unaware of the crocodile's shocked expression. "I've found something she might wanna see..."  
"I think you'd better come round to Tikal's Forest first, Knux. Cause Relic found something I think _you'll_ wanna see..." Vector replied, confusing Knuckles as the rest of the Chaotix and Relic stared at a tree in Tikal's Forest... with the EXACT same mural depicted on it!

Meanwhile, Sonic & Rock emerged from the cave, only to find a pink hedgehog in a white & light-blue dress... with Lancelot, Roll & Rush standing beside her.  
"Amy?" Sonic asked, but that suspicion disappeared when Lancelot bowed before the pink hedgehog.  
"I am Nimue, the Lady of Never Lake. I've been waiting for you... Knight of the Wind." She said to Sonic, who seemed uncomfortable with how she addressed him. "I know that you consider yourself unworthy of the title, but you are still known as the Knight of the Wind to people all over Mobius... even the ancient sages of Hyrule predicted that you would help bring peace to this land..." This got Lancelot's attention.  
"Your words confuse me, milady..." He said to her. "You knew this land to be known as Hyrule for all this time?"  
"Yes, and now you and all of your fellow Knights must help Princess Zelda maintain that peace..." Nimue replied, before turning back to Sonic. "...while Sir Sonic takes his new friends to reunite with his old friends..." Lancelot then tapped Roll on the shoulder.  
"Oh! I guess she means us, Rush..." She stated while running back to her brother, as Lana emerged from the cave.  
"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get back to my team... but why do YOU want me there?" Asked Sonic, pointing at Nimue.  
"All will be understood, once you find a friend of mine named Caliburn, and bring him before me..." Said Nimue, feeling confident in Sonic. It was then that Lana handed Sonic's gauntlet back to him... but he turned it down.  
"Well, Lady... if you're so sure that I can find your friend, then Zelda can keep my gauntlet until I come back!" Sonic replied, angering Lancelot with his "disrespect" of Nimue & Zelda... but Nimue smiled as she and Lana used similar magic to warp Sonic and the Robot Masters away from Hyrule.

As Commander Tower's entire office rose from where it was built, both Mecha Sonic and Proto Man stared at each other without moving. But just as Proto Man's scarf started to blow in the wind when the office reach the top of a skyscraper, the two robots lunged at each other! And even in his weakened state, Tower enjoyed watching Proto Man use his shield to block Mecha Sonic's Spin Slash!  
"It is almost time to make your presance known, my loyal imposter..." He said as Proto Man shoved Mecha Sonic away and blasted him with a shot from his arm cannon!  
"Whatever you say, Big Boss..." A voice that sounded familiar replied, while Proto Man threw his shield at Mecha Sonic, which stabbed him in the chest! Proto Man then jumped onto his shield and grabbed the handle before blasting him again, which knocked Proto Man back away, and blasted Mecha Sonic's head clean off! Before the boy robot could relax however, all of Mecha Sonic's missing and/or damaged parts seemed to melt into a metallic liquid and reattach to Mecha Sonic's body, good as new!  
"What?! What kind of robot ARE you?!" Proto Man asked in shock, as Mecha Sonic's singular red eye glowed an evil glow.  
"YOU MAY BE A MERE ROBOT PROTOTYPE..." Mecha Sonic replied after chuckling, which startled Proto Man. "...BUT _I_ AM THE **ULTIMATE** ROBOT... **MECHA SONIC!** " Mecha Sonic then fired a large beam at Proto Man, and while his shield managed to protect him, the force of the beam was so much that he unintentionally deflected it to destroy Tower's desk, a patrolling GUN helicopter, as well as slicing a GUN airship in half! Once Tower got up on one knee, he aimed his gun at Proto Man's head... but the boy robot fired underneath his shield and hit Mecha Sonic's leg, causing the robot monster to collapse and the beam he fired to disappear. Tower disarmed himself as he watched Proto Man then leap in the air with his shield in both hands... and as he came down to land on Mecha Sonic, he shoved his shield into Mecha Sonic's back, cutting off Mecha Sonic's power source and causing it to shut down!

As Proto Man pulled his shield out of Mecha Sonic's remains, he heard Tower slowly clapping.  
"An intriguing battle to watch, Blues. Light & Wily had quite the impressive pet project when they built you. And you had to ruin it for them by running away..." He said, making Proto Man angry enough to aim his cannon at the Commander. But the robot boy was hesitant to fire, making Tower chuckle. "You can't harm me, can you? Light should've known better than to give you a conscience. Or whatever comes close for a robot like you." While saying all of this, Tower walked around his office and stood his chair back up before sitting in it, all while Proto Man kept his cannon aimed at him. "Luckily for me, my colleague doesn't have that drawback..." Just then, Proto Man saw a shadow beside his on the ground in front of him. When he turned back, he saw a robot boy similar to him and Mega Man, aiming a cannon of his own at him! Soon after getting a powerful laser fired at his chest, Proto Man collapsed on the ground, allowing Tower to see his colleague smirking back at him; This robot boy looked very similar to Mega Man, only his design also looked like it resembled Dr Eggman, as well... he even had gold plates on the sides of his helmet that resembled Eggman's moustache! "Good work, Copy Robot."  
"Thanks, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that anymore, Abe." The Mega Man look-alike said to Tower, as the office lowered from the buildingtop. "From now on, I prefer M'egga Man!"  
"I knew our alliance with the Eggman Empire would pay off..." Tower pointed out while looking at the remains of Mecha Sonic, as the office returned to its original location. While this was happening, M'egga Man gave the defeated Proto Man a quick scan. "...though I don't think he'd like the fact that I'm keeping this from him."  
"You want me to keep Eggman busy?" M'egga Man suggested with a smirk on his face, and a hand on his cannon.  
"No. Just return to the Death Egg, and await further orders..." Tower replied, making M'egga Man nod in compliance before teleporting out of GUN HQ... just as Regina entered the room in a semi-revealing GUN uniform.  
"Still not strong enough?" She asked, referring to Mecha Sonic, making Tower shake his head. But then she seemed excited to see Proto Man unconscious before her... "Oooh... a new toy to play with?"  
"He's all yours, my dear..." Tower replied. But just as Regina got close enough, Proto Man used what energy he had left to teleport away, making Regina stamp her foot in anger!

Meanwhile, Dr Eggman returned Bionic & Shadow Android to the room where he activated them aboard the Death Egg.  
"You two will need to be recharged before I can give you your mission." The Doctor told the robots, which confused Shadow Android.  
"But, Doctor..." He said, slightly annoying Robotnik. "...if GUN has indeed forced you to abandon your original plans for us, then why did you release us?" This made Eggman sigh in frustration as they reached the center of the lab.  
"My plans for you two now involve merely protecting the Mobian in this capsule." He replied, directing the attention of Bionic & Shadow Android to the foggy capsule in front of them. "This Mobian is absolutely vital to my plans for world domination!"  
"I'm guessing that you changed your mind about recreating Mobians, since failing with Scourge & Maria..." Shadow Android suspected, making the Doctor get angry as he remembered those failures...  
"THIS time will be different, Shadow Android..." Answered Eggman, before sliding his hand over the glass of the capsule. "THIS Mobian was cloned from a goddess! And unlike my last two failed experiments, I have made THIS Mobian completely loyal to me... without Roboticization! GAH HAHAHAHA!" As he cackled, Robotnik threw the switch that opened the capsule, releasing steam as the glass raised up from the floor. Soon, what appeared to be a shapely female echidna emerged from the steam, but it was still difficult to tell what she looked like, let alone what she was wearing. Despite that, Shadow Android was amazed -especially by her sky-blue eyes- and Eggman evilly smirked. "Welcome back to the land of the living, my dear..."

END OF CHAPTER


	5. Ch5 The Angelic Turnabout Pt1

**FINAL WARNING:** This multi-part special WILL contain HEAVY spoilers for Kid Icarus Uprising. So if you want to keep reading Chaos on Mobius, you should study up on that game, first!

 _Episode 140_

 **50 YEARS AGO  
** The Great War was raging all over Mobius, as two young human children watched the tragedy occur from Space Colony ARK with a certain black hedgehog keeping an eye on them. They got even more horrified when they saw a town getting destroyed by what looked like Pit and an army of Centurions! While the Centurions made short work of the human warriors... Pit used an evil-looking bow to shoot down buildings and knock out civilians. It seemed like no life or structure was being spared from their wrath! Then Pit was forced to land in front of a very young -and very scared- human boy with brown hair. As Pit aimed at the young boy with an angry-yet-glossed-over look in his eyes, the boy looked like he was about to cry... suddenly, Pit lowered his bow and kicked the child away, before running towards another target. Watching all of this from the ARK, the girl was scared by what had just happened, while the boy was filled with rage.  
"Oh, Shadow. *sob* How could Chaos let them get away with this?" The girl tearfully asked while crying into the hedgehog's chest.  
"I... I don't know..." He replied, feeling a little upset, as well.  
"Me neither, Maria. *sniff* But I promise you..." Said the boy with tears of anger and determination in his eyes of different colours. "...I **will** make them pay!"

 _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Five: The Angelic Turnabout (_ _Part One: Fighting For What's Wright_ _)_

 **PRESENT DAY**  
The night of the Chaos Energy revelations, Knuckles arrived at the point in Tikal's Forest where the Chaotix were watching Relic dart back-and-forth in front of a tree with what appeared to be a black canvas.  
"And how long has she been doing this?" He asked Julie-Su.  
"She started just before you got here, and only Chaos knows why..." She replied while rolling her eyes, which was when Shade approached.  
"Aren't you the least bit curious as to why that green echidna looked a lot like TodStar?" She asked, but Julie-Su shrugged in response.  
"I was hatched and raised in the Eggman Empire. I couldn't really pay attention to ancient legends like this..." It was then that Knuckles approached a panicking Relic.  
"What's the problem, Relic?" He asked, making her turn around in frustration.  
"The problem is that I've come **this** close to solving the ancient mystery that drew me to Angel Island in the first place, and now the mural has **vanished!** " She replied, before quickly inspecting the tree stump again.  
"That reminds me... how did you get onto Angel Island, anyway?" Asked Knuckles, genuinely curious.  
"Oh, it was back when that horrid Robotnik crashed that ship of his into the island. I saw an opportunity, and the archeologist in me just couldn't pass it up." Relic blankly answered, before knocking on the stump. Almost immediately after she did that, the mural lit up again -making Relic happy- but the opposite side lit up, as well; It glowed pink and purple, startling Knuckles in the process. Briefly looking back at Julie-Su -who also looked a little shocked- Knuckles raced out of Tikal's Forest as fast as he could, looking terrified as he did so!

Meanwhile, Eggman was standing in his secret lab aboard the Death Egg with his new hedgehog robots beside him, as he released a Mobian echidna from her chamber.  
"Welcome back to the land of the living, my dear..." He said to the echidna; She was a magenta-pink with sky-blue make-up around her eyes (which were also sky-blue) and she had clips that were two shades of blue on each front dreadlock, with each side having opposing colours. She wore a sky-blue skin-tight body suit in an asymmetric style with sections of cobalt-blue, a cobalt-blue corset with bits of sky-blue, cobalt-blue fingerless gloves, over-knee boots with a thick heel, and also 4 rings around her wrists.  
"W-wha..? Where am I? And who are you?" She slowly asked the mad scientist, as she tried to get her bearings.  
"Why, I am Dr Ivo Robotnik, the current savior of Mobius. And you're onboard my space station, the Egg of Peace." Eggman lied, making the echidna feel somewhat relieved. Shadow Android however, was disturbed by the deceit.  
"Well, I am glad to be among heroes of a world that means... something to me..." Said the echidna, seeming confused by her own words. "My name is Sky, but... that's all that I can remember about me..."  
"That's understandable." Responded Eggman. "I cloned you from what data I could obtain from the Sky Temple back on Tralius, as it's now known. But I couldn't collect every piece of information needed to restore your memories..." Sky suddenly got curious...  
"If there is more of me to be discovered in that temple, then why can't we investigate?" She asked, making Eggman sigh in possible regret.  
"I'm afraid I was forced to destroy the temple to prevent any plaques or scrolls from falling into the wrong hands..." This made Shadow Android glare at the Doctor without anyone noticing.

"You did the right thing, Doctor. And I vow to help you restore peace to Mobius!" Sky announced, as she held her hand out for Eggman to gladly shake it.  
"With you part of the Eggman Empire, we shall bring an end to all of the evil on the planet below!" Added Eggman, making Shadow Android look at Bionic with concern, but Bionic blankly stared in front of him... just then, TodStar jumped up from sleeping on the floor of the Hidden Palace, only to find Tikal & Zeus happily chatting in front of the Master Emerald.  
"(That... that dream I just had... it couldn't have been real... could it?)" He asked himself, while remembering seeing Eggman shaking hands with a pink echidna. Suddenly, his thoughts were inturrupted when he looked up at the mural to see that it was full; The left side was the same as the last time... but the right side had a purple background, with violet hands grabbing a pink echidna, who appeared to be reaching out to the green echidna. In fact, both echidnas looked like they were reaching for each other...

At that moment, Pit landed in front of Freedom HQ, expecting to find Sonic nearby. Little did he know that there were no Mobians hiding in that cave...  
"So this is Freedom HQ..." He exclaimed while looking around.  
" _Just keep your voice down, Pit._ " Warned Palutena via telepathy. " _The human military is nearby..._ "  
"Maybe... but they wouldn't dare touch me and my buffness!" Pit pointed out while flexing, making Palutena place her hand over her face.  
"You'd be surprised, Angel of Death!" Shouted a voice unfamiliar to Pit or Palutena, which shocked them both. Suddenly, a small battalion of GUN soldiers came pouring out of Freedom HQ, and aimed their guns at Pit! "Time for you to pay for your crimes."  
"W-w-what crimes? I-I haven't done anything wrong!" Pit stated while holding his hands up, but no one aiming at him was convinced.  
"Nice try, bird-brain... but we've all heard the stories of what you and your precious goddess did fifty years ago!" Said another soldier, startling Palutena.  
" _Oh, no..._ " She said, which Pit heard, and it confused him.  
"L-Lady Palutena?" He asked with concern and confusion in his voice.  
"That's right, we're taking you in for The Age of Palutena's Eclipse!" Said another soldier, making Palutena cringe in shame.  
" _...you'd better go with them._ " She said to the captain of her guard.  
"What?!"  
" _Pit, listen to me. Just turn yourself in. It's time the humans learned the truth about those three years..._ " After sighing, Pit held his arms out in front of him in order for one of the GUN soldiers to attach handcuffs to his wrists.  
"Let's take him straight to a holding cell in Central City." Said the lead soldier, walking in front of the others and Pit towards a small airship that had landed in the Great Plains. "We may have failed to capture Shadow and the Freedom Fighters... but wait til Commander Tower hears that Spider Troupe arrested the legendary 'hero' Pit!"

At the same time, three humans in familiar clothes were running away from GUN officials through an empty street in Empire City; Two were men wearing matching hats, shirts, overalls and boots (although the hats and shirts were different colours)... while the woman they were with was wearing a gold crown, big blue earrings, a big pink dress and red heels.  
"*pant* Stop *pant* in the name of the United Federation!" Shouted one of the officials, before grabbing the radio on his belt. "*pant* This is Sigma Unit *pant* repeating its request *pant* for backup in Empire City. *pant* Repeat; WE NEED BACKUP!"  
"*pant pant* We-we can't outrun them forever, Big Brother! *pant*" Said the taller human in the green-and-blue clothes, making the shorter one start carrying the woman in his arms.  
""pant* You got any Mini Mushrooms on ya? *pant* Cause that's the only way I can see us *pant* getting away from these guys! *pant*" The shorter human in red-and-blue replied.  
"I sure hope all of the Toads back in Spagonia are okay..." She said, loud enough for the brothers to hear.  
"They'll be fine, Princess. *pant* After all... *pant* you keep singing praises for that *pant* D'Coolette guard of yours." Stated the shorter male, before he and his brother came to a halt... due to a small battalion of GUN soldiers standing between them and a GUN airship. This made the officials behind slow down to catch their breath.  
"Sigma Alpha Two, reporting for duty." Stated the lead soldier, while saluting.  
"*pant pant* Arrest these three. *pant* Right now." One of the officials ordered.  
"But sir, this woman appears to be the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom." The lead soldier protested.  
"She's a Mobian sympathizer, as are those plumbers! *pant* ARREST THEM!"  
"Yes, sir!" Little did anyone on the street know that four more people were watching from a small skyscraper nearby...

All of a sudden, several balls of fire & ice came crashing down around all of the humans in the intersection, making them all look up to see four silouettes standing on the corner of a buildingtop.  
"Who's there?" Asked one of the GUN soldiers, before an official snatched his gun from him.  
"They attacked us, and that's all you need to know! FIRE!" He snapped, before shooting at the silouettes. All four silouettes leapt from the buildingtop and dove down towards the GUN troops.  
"Cowabunga!" One of them shouted, as they all they all appeared to turn into cannonballs that were unaffected by the bullets being fired at them! Before anyone knew it, the 'cannonballs' came crashing down on four GUN soldiers, before bouncing back to land around the plumbers and their princess, and revealing their true form...  
"Koopas?!" Cried the taller plumber in green, as the shorter red plumber stepped in front of the princess to protect her. While they were indeed Koopa Troopas, they all wore different coloured bandanas, boots and shells. And they also carried weapons, which was unusual for Koopas; The blue Koopa was armed with a boomerang in each hand, the red Koopa held two hammers, the purple Koopa held what appeared to be a staff of fireballs, and the orange Koopa slowly spun a pair of Chain Chomplets around in his hands.  
"Stick as close to Peach as you can, Weegee. We're not finished yet!" The shorter human told his brother, making the red Koopa turn to the red plumber.  
"Relax, plumber... us Koopa Bros are done tryin' to kidnap Princess Peach..." He said bluntly, startling the red plumber.  
"We're here to help you protect her!" Added the blue Koopa, before he lunged at a GUN soldier and sliced his gun in half with one of his boomerangs... then knocking him out with a roundhouse kick!

The other Koopas followed their brother, and attacked other GUN soldiers; The purple Koopa deflected every bullet shot at him by twirling his staff in front of him, before poking the soldier in the gut, setting his vest on fire! The orange Koopa swayed back-and-forth to avoid gunfire before whacking the soldier's head with one of the Chomplets, and the other Chomplet bit down one the soldier's arm moments before the Koopa kicked him the chest to send him flying into the airship! Finally, the red Koopa ran towards the last soldier with anger in his eyes, jumped over him and smacked him in the back of the head with his hammers, before shooting back into his shell and jumping into the air to ram the soldier down to the ground, knocking him out cold and scaring the officials!  
"Boo!" He yelled, horrifying the officials enough to run away from the streets. Once the coast was clear, the Koopa Bros turned to Mario, Luigi & Peach. All seven in the area were confused, but for different reasons. They were also unaware that people were emerging from the buildings and chattering...  
"Go, are you sure these are the Mario Bros and Princess Peach?" The blue Koopa asked the purple Koopa, making him pull a scanner out of his shell and aim it at the humans.  
"It's definitely them." He replied, holding his scanner up after completing a scan. "My Shell Scanner doesn't lie!"  
"Maybe it's busted, bra..." The orange Koopa suggested, while getting a closer look at a terrified Luigi. "...cause they **sure** don't look like the guys ol' Mecha Bowser wanted to beat up..." The red Koopa then elbowed the blue Koopa.  
"Z, we're startin' to get noticed 'round here." He said, making the blue Koopa nod in agreement.  
"We can argue about this later. Right now, let's just get them underground, until they're safe from GUN." Said the blue Koopa, before they all led the Mario Bros and Peach into a sewer. All three were sceptical, but they let the Koopa Bros escort them down. Down into a sewer that no onlookers intended to follow them into...

Later that evening, back in an office building on the lower streets of Empire City, two humans were finishing up some paperwork, while a younger third was asleep on the couch. One had spiky hair and was wearing a blue suit with a pink tie, while the other one awake had stylish hair, and was wearing a yellow dress-like suit with some kind of orb-like gadget as a necklace. The girl asleep was wearing a black-and-blue magician's outfit, with a matching top-hat lying on the floor. The male human was slowly drifting off to sleep as well... when the phone on his desk started vibrating and ringing. The familiar ringtone made everyone jump out of their skin!  
"(I gotta figure out how to change that ringtone...)" He thought while looking at the girl's head spinning as she sat in her chair, before he answered the phone, and yawned as he spoke. "Wright Anything Agency."  
"Mr Wright... there's no easy way for me to say this... but there was an attack on Prison Island, this morning..." Said the voice on the other end before sighing, making the man called Wright a little scared. "...and I'm afraid that Ms Fey was badly injured in the chaos." Hearing this, Wright trembled in fear as he fell back into his chair, getting the attention of the girls.  
"Mr Wright?" Asked the one in yellow, making Wright raise his hand before responding to the man on the phone.  
"Can I still see her, Doctor?" He asked with desperation in his voice.  
"I'll keep her stable for as long as I can, but you'll need to come here as soon as possible." The doctor replied, making Wright immediately hang up.  
"Daddy? What's wrong?" Asked the magician girl with concern in her voice, as Wright placed his phone and a gold locket in different pockets on his jacket.  
"I'll tell you when I come back, Trucy." He replied, before looking at the girl wearing yellow. "Athena, can you keep an eye on the place until I return?"  
"Sure thing, Boss." She answered while nodding, not willing to question her boss' motives. Then Wright raced out of the office, leaving both Trucy & Athena confused.  
"(I never gave up on you in the past...)" He said to himself as he ran down the stairs as fast as he could. "(...and I'm DEFINITELY not going to start now!)"

Meanwhile, within the sewers of Empire City, the Mario Bros were keeping themselves and Peach a good distance away from the four Koopas. The red Koopa noticed this, and got a little grumpy...  
"Ay! Is that anyway to treat the guys who saved your butts?!" He said while walking backwards to face them, making Peach cover her mouth in shock. The blue Koopa then made everyone stop so he could face the red Koopa.  
"Now's not the time for this, Cry." He told his comrade, who shoved him back.  
"You're seriously defendin' them?! What they're doin' is bein' dishonourable!" This made Mario mad, which was when he put Peach down to face the red Koopa.  
"You got somethin' to say Reptile Rick, say it!" The plumber said while staring the red Koopa in the face, who chuckled in response.  
"How cute... you've been here for 5 minutes and you think you can school us Koopa Bros on how to live in Empire City?"  
"Well... we **were** raised here, after moving out of Knothole..." Luigi pointed out, which was when the orange Koopa stepped in... after pulling his music player and headphones back into his shell.  
"Yeah, but then you moved all the way to the Mushroom Kingdom... wassup with that?" He asked with curiosity.  
"Isn't it obvious, Ran? They found a place to call home in Spagonia." Answered the purple Koopa, while tweaking with an invention of his. This however, was when the blue Koopa stepped in between the Mario Bros and his fellow Koopa Bros.  
"All right, that's enough!" He yelled. "We're all on the same side, here."  
"Which is?" Asked Mario, still looking peeved.  
"AGAINST Bowser. And Eggman. And GUN." At that moment, everyone calmed down.

"By the way, where'd you guys get those disguises? They're awesome!" Asked the purple Koopa, getting Peach's attention.  
"Well... recently, I had a dream..." She shyly began. "The Goddess of Light warned me that I should shield my true form from humanity... so I gathered the three of us and others close to us together in my castle, and we used the castle's Power Stars to make a wish..." All four of the Koopa Bros were shocked by this news.  
"A-and your wish came true?" Asked the Koopa called 'Ran,' who got a slap on the head by the one called 'Cry.'  
"Of course it came true, dingus!" He told his brother, but that's when the blue Koopa called 'Z' walked towards the now-humans.  
"But... why?" He asked. "Couldn't you just hide in the shadows, like we do?" That's when Luigi patted Mario's stomach.  
"Not with all the pasta Mario eats!" He joked, before getting curious. "What about you guys? Aren't all Koopa Troopas supposed to be, y'know... loyal to Bowser?" This was when all four Koopa got serious. Well, the orange Koopa did start blasting music from his player...  
"Common misconception with the four of us..." Said the Koopa called 'Go.'  
"We USED to be loyal to King Spiky and Scaly..." 'Ran' added, before 'Z' stepped in.  
"...until he alligned himself and his ENTIRE army with the Eggman Empire, and made all of his soldiers get cybernetic upgrades." He said, making Peach gasp in horror. "We weren't exactly up for the idea..."  
"That's when Master Mouser gave us a chance to rebel against Bowser, and we've been hidin' from him and his robo-jokers down here ever since..." Finished 'Cry,' before they reached a light on the opposite side of the subway tunnel they had just entered... and the Koopa Bros were tripped by a long mouse tail, making the Mario Bros step in front of Peach! Landing in front of the Koopas was a mouse with a black bandana over his eyes, and also wore a tattered red robe.

"My students, you have missed your training session with me. Again." He told the Koopa Bros as he used his tail to raise them up by their heads. "And why have you brought the Spagonian Princess into these sewers?!"  
"It *cough* it was my idea, Sensei..." Said the blue Koopa, making the mouse raise him up further.  
"And what is your excuse this time, Azure? Hm?" The mouse asked. "Did Crimson's rage get you into trouble again? Was Indigo concerned that someone would disguise themselves as the Princess? Or did Naranja's curiosity go too far, yet again?"  
"N-nothing like that, Master Mouser!" Azure tried to explain, as Mario, Luigi & Peach understood the nicknames for the Koopas. "She a-and the Mario Bros were running from GUN, s-s-so we helped them out and led the three of them down here!" After briefly looking at Peach, Mouser released the Koopas.  
"Your intentions may have been pure, gentlemen..." He told them with concern. "...but I'm afraid that your actions will lead the military down here, and our home is too small to hide the eight of us..." It was then that they all heard the sound of a subway train getting closer. "Boys, you should take that train. I shall keep the Princess and plumbers out of sight."  
"But Sensei, we're tired and hungry..." Complained Naranja, before getting his face slapped by Mouser's tail. "Ow!"  
"If the military find you here, then so will Bowser!" He yelled, making the Koopas prepare to jump. "Besides... you can get pizza at that talent agency you always tell me about."  
"Actually Master, it's more of a law firm than anything." Indigo pointed out, as Naranja's mouth drooled.  
"Pizza..." Soon, the subway train passed by their location, and the Koopa Bros were on top of the train as it roared past, leaving Mouser with the surprised plumbers and Princess.  
"M-Mario... they all just leapt onto the Super Bell Subway at high speed!" Luigi stuttered, making Mario turn to Mouser.  
"Those are some well-trained Koopas..." He eventually exclaimed, making Mouser chuckle as he led the three into his home.  
"Everything they know, they have learned from me." Mouser replied. "Including their desire to better themselves in every way possible..."

Early next morning on Prison Island, the man known as Wright was escorted into the infirmary, where a doctor next to a bed with a beautiful young woman was waiting for him...  
"Iris!" Exclaimed Wright as he rushed to the woman's side. "Are you OK?"  
"I am... now that I can see you again..." She replied with happy tears in her eyes. "I missed you so much, Phoenix..."  
"I-I missed you too..." He told her, before the doctor tapped him on the shoulder, making Phoenix bat it back. "I heard about the break-out. Why didn't you run like everyone else? You've been granted parole several times in the past few years..."  
"B-because I wanted to carry out my full sentence." Iris told Wright. "That's why I stayed in my cell during the break-out, and it's also why I always turned down parole... because I wanted to have a clear conscience when you finally embrace me as a free woman..." It was then that the doctor tapped Wright on the shoulder again, prompting Wright to talk to him in private.  
"She has been asking for you since the accident occurred, Mr Wright." He told the lawyer, before taking a deep breath and sighing. "I only wish I had better news for you. Especially with her so close to being released..."  
"Just tell me, Doctor... what happened?" The doctor was hesitant to respond.  
"I'm afraid her loyalty to you has cost her dearly..." Hearing this, Wright's heart sank. "Her legs have been crushed, and her stomach and kidneys are beyond repair." Wright fell to his knees with tears filling his eyes, after what he just heard. "I'm so sorry."  
"I... I had Iris transferred here so she'd be safe from other criminals in a secure cell..." He muttered, before standing up to grab the doctor by the collar in desperation. "Can't you do SOMETHING to save her?!"  
"Not on my own, I'm afraid. GUN regulations prevent having more than one medical doctor on the island, and we can't move her in this condition." This made Wright let the doctor go, before shoving a wheelchair onto its side!  
"To the Underworld with regulations! The woman I love is **DYING!** "  
"Phoenix... it's okay..." Iris said with all the strength she could muster, making Wright return to her side. "It just means that I'm paying for what I did all those years ago..."  
"No! You've already done your time, Iris!" He told her with tears streaming down his cheeks. "If anything, your dead sister should be going through this!"  
"No... I deserve this just as much as she would... besides..." Iris replied as a tear rolled down her cheek, while cupping her hand on Phoenix's cheek. "...this way, I can be with you forever... Feenie." Because he couldn't take it anymore, Phoenix dropped down to his knees and started sobbing, making Iris stroke his spiky hair as she started crying with him.

At that moment, Knuckles appeared to be staring into space at the memorial ring of Angel Island's Sky Sanctuary... when Julie-Su climbed up to where he was.  
"So this is where you ran off to..." She softly exclaimed, but Knuckles didn't move an inch as he stared up at the pillar in the center of the ring. "Trying to get some guidance from your dad?"  
"Look higher, Su..." Said Knuckles. When Julie-Su raised her head to see higher, she saw the top of the pillar... and she was shocked to see a statue of a female echidna.  
"But... but that looks like..." She said in shock, before Knuckles finished her thought.  
"...like the one from the mural, right?" He contined just after she nodded. "It just doesn't make sense..."  
"W-what doesn't, sweetie?" It was then that Knuckles turned to face his girlfriend in confusion.  
"I've read every single piece of text that my ancestors left behind. And not once did they mention the Echidna Goddess returning from the dead, never mind that she has something to do with TodStar!" It was then that Julie-Su hugged him from behind, with tears in her eyes.  
"I know, Knuckles. I'm scared for him, too... do you think Chaos will be able to help him through this?"  
"I sure hope so, Su..." Grabbing hold of one of Julie-Su's arms with a stern expression on his face as he stared up at the statue again... and a single tear rolled down his cheek. "This world has already lost enough echidnas... including my father. I don't want to lose my brother, too..."

The tragic sight of Phoenix & Iris crying onto her possible deathbed made the doctor walk out of the infirmary with his head lowered in shame... and a tear roll down his cheek. All of a sudden, Wright's phone started vibrating in his pocket. Reluctant to even stand, Phoenix eventually answered the phone while wiping away tears.  
"*sniff* Wright Anything Agency." He said, before a gentle sob.  
"Mr Wright? Are you okay?" Asked a familiar voice on the phone.  
"I don't wanna talk about it, Athena." He replied. "Can't this wait until I'm back at the office?"  
"I don't think so..." Said Athena, unaware that Trucy was secretly listening in. "I've uhh... got someone on the other line who wants to talk to you..."  
"Can't you take it?"  
"Sorry, Boss. She only wants to speak with you. She hasn't even told me her name yet." This made Phoenix plant his face onto his palm.  
"(Maybe I should've went to med school instead of law school...) Put her through." Athena did just as she was told, and Phoenix heard a voice unfamiliar to him on the other end...  
"I know you must be feeling scared about her fate right now, Mr Wright... but I can save her..." The mysterious female voice said, making Phoenix perk up. "All I ask is that you take my case..." That's when Wright got sceptical.  
"(I knew it. Some lowlife scumbag wants a Get Out of Jail Free card...) I'm not sure, ma'am." He told the voice. "We at the Wright Anything Agency only seek the truth about our clients. And you haven't even told my colleague your name!"  
"Oh, right! How rude of me..." Said what appeared to be a young woman with _very_ long green hair. "You can call me... Palutena." Hearing the name over the phone, Phoenix was a little shocked.  
"...as in the Goddess of Light? THAT Palutena?!" He asked in shock and confusion, making Palutena giggle.  
"As if there was any other... just don't call me ma'am again." She replied, before getting serious. "But I am serious about hiring you, Mr Wright. In fact, I'll even give you triple your usual rate in Mobiums. And I'm also serious about helping Iris..."

As good as all of this sounded, something still didn't sit well with Phoenix...  
"How do you know so much about me and my problems?" He asked, making Palutena giggle again.  
"Mr Wright, surely you're familiar with those legends about me?" She asked back, making him smack his palm on his forehead.  
"Of course. Your all-seeing eye. (Is she a mind-reader, too?)" Said Phoenix, before getting serious. "Are you sure you can help Iris?"  
"Definitely." Palutena replied with confidence. "I may not have a PhD, but I'm probably more qualified than any doctor on Mobius!"  
"(And I thought _I_ had an ego when I passed the bar exam so quickly the second time...)" Phoenix thought, seeming to be annoyed by Palutena's arrogance, before getting serious again. "All right, Ms Palutena... where can I find my client?" Hearing this, Palutena felt relieved.  
"He's in the Central City prison." She replied. "Does this mean you'll take my case?"  
"I'd like to talk to him, first. Can I get back to you?"  
"Don't bother, Mr Wright. I'll know when you've taken my case..." Palutena happily replied before she and Phoenix hung up. Phoenix then turned to Iris, who had fallen asleep. That was when Wright gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.  
"Hang in there, Iris. Help is on the way..." He said, shortly before running out of the infirmary. Soon after he left, a faint beam of light appeared around Iris' bed, which startled her a little...

Meanwhile, the Super Bell Subway was closing in on a manhole cover above the rails, which made the Koopa Bros prepare themselves...  
"Here's our stop!" Exclaimed Crimson, before all four Koopas leapt off the train, and grabbed onto a ladder underneath the manhole!  
"Uhh, guys? I think I'm slipping!" Naranja cried from the bottom, making the other three groan.  
"It's because you never wash your hands after eating... and now you're holding my legs! Gross!" Indigo pointed out, before trying to shake his brother off. Azure wasn't paying attention, as he heard something else...  
"Will you guys cool it?!" He told his brothers, before looking back up. "Something's wrong up there..." Once Azure slightly opened the manhole cover up, he spotted what appeared to be a large hippo getting cornered by a group of humans who were all laughing at him. And Azure didn't like it one bit... especially when one of the humans swiped the crown off the hippo's head.  
"What's the matter, KING Hippo?" Asked one of the humans. "Don't think you're worthy enough to keep this crown?"  
"That's cause you're not!" Shouted another human, making the hippo feel sad. "Cause you got your butt whupped by a little dweeb... twice!" The hippo raised one of his fists, but lowered it in shame, making the three humans laugh at him.  
"Aww, ain't ya gonna fight back, you big fat loser?!" Asked another human, before the three started shoving at the hippo's stomach. "Imagine all the sweet dough we'll get for giving this guy to GUN!" Seeing this made Crimson angry...

"I've seen enough..." He grumbled while grabbing one of his hammers, but Azure stopped him from leaving the tunnel.  
"Hold on, Cry. Looks like that guy is getting help from a friend of ours..." He told his brother, as they spotted a small human in a pink jumpsuit behind the bullies.  
"Leave him alone, you little scumbags!" He shouted, getting their attention, only to make them laugh in response.  
"Look who's calling who little!" One of them exclaimed. "You think a puny little guy like you can beat the three of us on your own?!"  
"Yes..." The human replied as he removed his pink jumpsuit, which terrified the humans and the hippo by his appearance; A short human male in his late teens with spiky hair, wearing a black tank-top, green shorts with grey lining and a red stripe down each leg, big black boots, and -most importantly- green boxing gloves. "...I do."  
"Dude, it's Little Mac! He's the undisputed champ!" Exclaimed one of the humans, sounding a little scared. One of them was still not convinced.  
"You lost to THIS guy?!" He asked the hippo, who nodded in response. "Meh, you may have beaten this tub of loser lard in a boxing ring... but you can't beat the three of us in a street fight!" This made Little Mac assume his boxing stance.  
"You sure you wanna risk that, **punk?** Cause I also beat Mr Sandman in the ring! Twice!" He asked the three. Without even questioning it, the most confident of the punks charged towards Mac... but the little boxer quickly evaded his incoming punch, and gave him a powerful punch to the stomach that sent him flying into the side of a dumpster! A little scared by that, the other two humans ran towards Little Mac. One of them ran behind Mac in order to land a sneaky hit, but Mac punched him in the face, before quickly twirling around to smack the other guy in the face as well!

As Little Mac approached King Hippo, two of the three humans were struggling to get their bearings, while the third was still unconscious.  
"Are you all right, King Hippo?" He asked, making King Hippo look at Mac in confusion. "Hey, we may be fierce opponents in the ring, but I hope we can be friends anywhere else..." King Hippo still seemed scared of Mac, so he grabbed his crown and ran away! "I guess not..." It was then that the Koopa Bros emerged from the manhole cover, surprising Mac. "Hey, it's you guys!"  
"Mac, you always were too stubborn to walk away from a fight!" Crimson pointed out while playfully punching Mac in the chest.  
"If you want a sparring match Cry, I'm all for it!" Exclaimed Mac.  
"We don't have time for that right now, Mac." Stated Azure. "We need a place to lay low while GUN's after us..." It was then that Mac had a thought...  
"Why not at a place where we always hang out?" He asked, before leading them out of the alley... and to an office building that they knew all too well...  
"No. I can't ask you to put everyone here at risk..." Azure pointed out, but he was ignored by the other three Koopas.  
"Forget that, I wanna see Mr Hat!" Naranja yelled as he raced towards the steps, making everyone else follow while shaking their heads and smiling.

At the same time, onboard the Death Egg, a handful of Egg Pawns were carrying a Mobian prisoner to Eggman in the hangar bay.  
"Dr Robotnik, we have brought the prisoner you requested." Said the leader of the Egg Pawns, dropping the prisoner before Eggman, with his long tail still standing up.  
"Trying to run? Oh-ho-ho-ho, no..." Eggman asked while leaning down to meet his prisoner face-to-face. Little did he know that another Egg Pawn was watching from the side of a wall... "Not when I have a surprise for you, Your Highness..."  
"If you're going to kill me... just do it now..." The prisoner struggled to say, making Eggman chuckle.  
"I would, but my experimental method isn't quite ready yet." He replied. "Besides, you can get accustomed to your new home... as there is an upcoming event that I must **witness** with my own eyes..." As Eggman walked away, the suspicious Egg Pawn looked at the other robots carrying the prisoner away, making the robot remove its head, and reveal that it was Sally in disguise!  
"(Hold on, Elias... I'm coming for you...)" She thought, after jumping out of the bare robot she hid inside of.

A short time later, Trucy Wright heard a knock on the office door... and her face lit up with joy when she saw the Koopa Bros and Little Mac when she opened the door!  
"Mac, and the Koopas!" She happily exclaimed, before they all appeared to pile on top her... except she reappeared next to the five boys! "Hey, you guys!"  
"Seriously, how does she do that?!" Azure asked as the Koopas and Mac stood up.  
"Magic, Z. What else do you need to know?" Mac pointed out, before Indigo got curious.  
"You think she's stealing our Smoke Balls?" He asked with genuine concern.  
"Worry about that later... can I use your phone, Trucy?" Asked Naranja, making Trucy give him a stern look.  
"You're not calling Pac-Pizza again, are you?" She asked back with her hands on her hips.  
"Hey, like the slogan says: 'Let us have a slice, and you pay half price!'" Naranja replied while dialing, making Trucy stick her tongue out in disgust.

It was then that Azure turned to Trucy and bowed before her in respect, while Naranja messed with the radio as the phone was ringing.  
"I hope we won't be too much of a burden to you while we hide out here..." Azure told her, before Naranja started dancing along to a song that started playing.  
"Dude! I _LOVE_ the Squid Sisters!" He happily shouted while dancing, making the other three Koopas and Mac roll their eyes with a smile on their faces, while Trucy just giggled.  
"Nah, it won't be so bad." She replied. "Mac rang ahead, and the others are rarely here when they're on a case..." Azure was surprised by this news.  
"Your Dad and his partner are on a case?" He asked, making Trucy nod.  
"If I overheard the call Athena got right, then my Daddy is defending the Goddess of Light in court!" She suspected, making Azure & Mac's eyes widen in shock.  
"Who would be mad enough to sue a god?!" Asked Mac.  
"No idea..." Azure replied. "...let's just hope that the Ace Attorney can defend her..."

To be continued.


	6. Ch6 The Angelic Turnabout Pt2

_Episode 141  
Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Six: The Angelic Turnabout (_ _Part Two: Mysteries in Histories_ _)_

The morning Phoenix Wright visited Prison Island, TodStar & Zeus arrived within the Great Plains from Angel Island via Warp Ring.  
"Wow... the Great Plains have never felt so empty before... or dead..." Said TodStar as he and Zeus looked around... only to find GUN soldiers occupying Freedom HQ in the distance, which made TodStar run away from his home. "Quick, follow me!" After a few minutes of running -and not getting spotted by GUN- TodStar and Zeus arrived at the ruins of Robotropolis, making the grey fox look around.  
"What a dark and empty city..." He muttered, before turning to TodStar. "What is this place?"  
"This is what's left of Eggman's home, Robotropolis." The green echidna replied, startling Zeus. "He blew up his own city to launch that bloody big fleet of his!"  
"Eggman... that name sounds familiar to me..." Zeus replied, before sniffing around him, and recoiling in disgust. "Gah... the air is foul with the stench of smoke and death!" TodStar wasn't listening, as he spotted a familiar face that he was all too eager to see...  
"Amy!" He happily shouted, getting the attention of a certain pink hedgehog outside a cave of junk.  
"TodStar! Thank Chaos!" Exclaimed Amy, before they shared a hug. Then Amy noticed the fox behind TodStar, which confused her. "Um... did you and the Chaotix reprogram this guy, or something?" This comment irritated Zeus slightly.  
"I'll explain later." TodStar replied, but all of them were unaware of another hedgehog and three more robots suddenly appearing nearby.  
"Excuse me... my body may be metal, but I am not some mindless drone." Zeus added, making Amy a little angry.

"Better not say that about **my** new pals, here..." Said a familiar voice that made TodStar  & Amy light up. Sure enough, once they looked where the voice was coming from, Sonic stood before them, wearing his trademark smirk. Behind him was Mega Man, Roll and Rush, who all looked happy to meet more of the Freedom Fighters. "These bots are anything BUT mindless!"  
" **SONIC!** " Shouted TodStar & Amy, making the both of them hug their old friend. While Sonic was happy to be back with his team, there was something about Zeus that didn't sit well with him...  
"(Now there's this guy...)" He thought, as there was something about Sonic that made Zeus uncomfortable, too... "(And I can't shake the feeling that I've seen him somewhere before...)" Putting it aside, Zeus extended his hand out to Sonic.  
"I am Zeus. Nice to meet you." Sonic seemed a little hesitant at first -and everyone in the area could feel the tension- but he eventually shook Zeus' hand.  
"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." He replied, before Amy knelt down to get a better look at Rush.  
"Aww, what a cute robot dog!" She exclaimed, before Rush gave her a big lick, leaving saliva all over one side of Amy's face! "UGH, YUCK!"  
"Sorry about that, Ms Rose..." Said Roll, looking nervous.  
"Yeah... Rush can be a little too friendly sometimes..." Rock added while scratching the back of his head.  
"Noted." Amy replied as the saliva dripped off of her face, before she turned back to Sonic. "Sonic, just who are these kids? And how do they know my name?"  
"It's a loooong story, Ames." Said Sonic as he led them all into the cave of junk. Looking at the Light Robots, Zeus pulled TodStar aside for a moment.  
"Can I talk to you alone?" He asked. "I have some questions that need answering..." TodStar merely released himself from Zeus' grip and followed Sonic into the cave.  
"I think we're better off listening to Sonic..." The green echidna pointed out. "...cause I'm just as clueless about them as you are..."

At that moment in Hyrule, a blue fairy-like humanoid suddenly flew into a tent where Link was sleeping, and started flying around him!  
"Link! Wake up! Wake up, Link!" She screamed, as Link slowly started opening his eyes. "Our new home is being threatened, and you're napping on the job?!" Hearing that, Link jumped out of bed, grabbed his sword and shield, and raced outside... only to find nothing in sight. Although he did feel the ground vibrate beneath him... "Over there!" This made Link look where she was pointing. Soon enough, a Chain Chomp appeared, and was bouncing towards the castle that was currently being renovated! A young-yet-familiar dog in armor known as Macho arrived just in time to see this, and he prepared his sword & shield for battle.  
"Quickly, Link! We must subdue that beast before it destroys Hyrule Castle!" He exclaimed, but Link held him back, before pointing at himself with a smug look on his face. After that gesture, Link raced towards the Chain Chomp... leaving his sword and shield at the boy's feet! "Proxi, do you know what he meant by that?"  
"Just that he'll handle it, I guess..." She replied while shrugging, before following Link towards the Chain Chomp... leaving Macho kind of peeved, as he placed his sword back in its scabbard and his shield on his back.  
"For the life of me, I shall never understand the Hylians' relationship with the Sprixies..." He muttered. Moments later, Link stopped in the Chain Chomp's path, making it start barking as it thrashed around. With a grunt, Link raised both of hands up at the Chain Chomp, but that didn't stop its rage!  
"Uhh, Link? You might wanna rethink your strategy..." Suggested Proxi, who looked pretty nervous, as the Chain Chomp stared her in the face. Link however, was still determined to stop the intruder to his new home, which made the back of his left hand start shining with a bright light that blinded everyone around, except Link!  
"Gah! What is that bright light?" Asked Macho, while cringing from being blinded. Soon the light faded, and Proxi was shocked by what she saw... the Chain Chomp had calmed down!  
"Amazing..." She exclaimed, before noticing what was on Link's hand; Four seperate triangles forming a whole one, but only one of them was lit as much as the outline. "...was that the power of the Triforce?!"

Macho approached Link as the Hylian started petting the Chain Chomp... and the shih-tzu knight was amazed!  
"That... that was incredible!" He exclaimed, before pointing to the symbol on Link's left hand. "Is this beast now tame because of that light?"  
"That's the Triforce of Courage for you!" Stated Proxi, before Link whispered something to her. "Oh, and he's calling this thing Bow Wow."  
"'Bow Wow?'" Asked Macho, seeming amused by the name, making Proxi shrug.  
"Hey, I don't know what goes on in his head!" She replied, before more Mobian knights approached the scene.  
"Ahh, Dame Percival, Sir Lamorak..." Macho pointed out. "What tidings do you bring?"  
"Not good ones. This I know for sure..." Said Lamorak, as he & Percival raised their visors.  
"We must see Princess Zelda immediately!" Added Percival. "We have news of the Underworld Army returning to Hyrule!" Hearing this, Macho & Link jumped back in shock.  
"This way!" Exclaimed Proxi, before leading them into the castle.

About an hour later, Phoenix was onboard the Super Bell Subway with his colleague, Athena... when they heard an automated voice via the train's speakers.  
"Your attention, please." Said the voice. "This train will be stopping at -Central City- in -five- minutes." When the voice repeated itself, Phoenix placed his phone on the table as the screen read "Calling... Office."  
"Wright Anything Agency." Said a familiar voice that made both Phoenix & Athena sigh with relief.  
"Boy, are we glad we got you, Trucy!" Athena exclaimed.  
"Are you all right? I'm sorry I couldn't stay to tell you what was going on..." Said Phoenix, feeling guilty.  
"Don't worry about me, Daddy..." Trucy replied, while looking at the Koopa Bros & Little Mac watching her magic tricks on TV. "...I'm keeping busy." This made Wright chuckle a little.  
"(That's my girl. Never letting the bad stuff get her down for long...)" He thought, before getting serious. "All right, let's review everything we know about this case so far..."

"For starters, you got to talk with the Goddess of Light herself!" Athena pointed out with excitement. "Mon dieu, I'm still jealous of you, Boss!"  
"(I wish it was you instead of me too, Athena... that conversation was very strange...)" Thought Wright, before getting back to business. "And she's hired us to defend her, but we're on our way to meet her subordinate now."  
"Defending the Goddess of Light... that's gotta be a challenge for you, huh Daddy?" Trucy asked over the phone, making Phoenix shrug.  
"I've seen some weird things in court, already..." He replied. "(It can't get any weirder... can it?) Have you been able to learn anything about the opposition, Trucy?"  
"Just that Mr Blackquill is the prosecutor." This confused both lawyers.  
"You didn't ask who he's prosecuting for?!" Asked Athena.  
"I DID ask, but all Mr Edgeworth told me was that it was classified, for some reason..." Trucy replied, before Phoenix & Athena heard what sounded like a group laughing quite loudly.  
"Trucy, what's going on over there?" Asked a concerned Phoenix... unaware that the Koopa Bros and Little Mac were laughing at a wooden puppet that Trucy was holding up onscreen... which also wore her hat!  
"Nothing to worry about, Daddy. Talk to you soon!" Not too long after that, Trucy hung up, making Athena slide down in her seat.  
"Well... we know about as much now as when we got on this train..." She said while looking bored, before she & Phoenix heard the voice through the train's speakers again.  
"Now arriving in -Central City." It stated. "Mind the gap as you exit the train."  
"No time to lament over it now..." Phoenix pointed out as he & Athena stood up. "It's time to meet our client. (I just hope he'll cooperate...)"

Meanwhile, within the Freedom Fighters' hideout in the ruins of Robotropolis, everyone was getting up to speed one what had happened over the last two weeks...  
"Man... things really have gone to the Realm of Iblis, huh?" Lily pointed out.  
"I wondered why the Chaos Force felt... out of balance..." Added Shadow, before Sonic placed his hand on TodStar's shoulder to get his attention.  
"I'm surprised you're not feeling any side-effects, buddy..." He told the green echidna, who seemed relieved.  
"Yeah, me too..." He replied, before thinking out loud as he turned to Zeus. "...might be cause of that mural we found..."  
"I fear what may happen if the balance is not restored..." Said Zeus while looking at his hand, and allowing small streaks of purple lightning to spark around his hand. This made Sonic poke TodStar with his elbow.  
"Dude, could Nicole do that?" He asked, making TodStar shrug in response as Roll walked over to the deactivated Omega...  
"So your friend here is infected by a virus?" She asked the Freedom Fighters, making Tails approach her.  
"You could say that." He replied. "But really, he's under the Iron Queen's control, thanks to her Technomagic." Both Roll's & Rock's eyes widened when they heard that word.  
"So it did find a way off of Lost Hex, after all..." Rock muttered to himself.  
"Lost what-now?" Asked Amy, making Rock nervous.  
"Uhh... it's not important..." He replied, as Roll stepped closer towards Omega.  
"I think I can help him with my Acoustic Blaster..." She pointed out, just before her battle-attire changed to green-and-lime-green. "You might want to cover your ears..." Roll then fired a blaring green musical note at Omega, which made the robot bounce up from the ground and move around uncontrollably... until the familiar grey aura was expelled from his body and evaporated!

Moments after that, Omega's eyes slowly lit up, as if they were opening...  
"SYSTEM REBOOTING. VIRUS KNOWN AS TECHNOMAGIC PURGED." He stated, before going back through his recent memory. "SHADOW!" Hearing his name, the black hedgehog came to his friend's side. "I MUST APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT I HAVE SAID AND DONE TO YOU." Shadow then shook his head.  
"That wasn't you, Omega. You know that." He told the robot, making Omega rise to his feet.  
"DESPITE THIS, I MUST EARN YOUR FORGIVENESS... BY RESCUING ROUGE THE BAT." That got Shadow's attention.  
"You know where she is?" He asked, making Omega nod. "Then we'd better get moving."  
"Whoa! What about the rest of us?" Stated Sonic. "We're bound to get spotted by GUN if we leave now. Especially in broad daylight!" Shadow then turned to his biological son.  
"That's why only Omega & myself are leaving. Perhaps we can get them to chase us, instead..." He said, before bowing to Roll. "Thank you for saving my friend."

As Roll blushed by Shadow's gesture, he and Omega raced out of the remains of Robotropolis. But that was when Zeus got to his feet.  
"Perhaps it would be best if I left, as well..." He suggested. "I could be putting you all in harm's way..." Just as he was about to run out of the cave, TodStar grabbed his arm.  
"Ohh no, you don't!" He told the fox. "If there's even the slightest chance that we can save Nicole, you're sticking with us! Right?"  
"We'd need access to the EggNet..." Tails pointed out. "...but without Freedom HQ, it could take a while to even find a safe-and-secure terminal..." That's when Sonic stepped forward.  
"Sides, you seem pretty tough." He told Zeus. "And we're gonna need all the help we can get to bring the fight to GUN..." Suddenly, Rush started whining while rubbing his head on Rock's arm.  
"What's wrong, boy?" He asked, before supposedly looking up at the ceiling. "I'm detecting multiple GUN soldiers approaching."  
"I guess Shadow didn't get everyone's attention, after all..." Amy suspected, before Tails ran towards the back of Zeus.  
"Sorry about this, but we're gonna have to shut down all of the robots until they're out of sensor range!" Lily said in a panic. After Zeus nodded, Tails opened up a panel on the back of his head, and flicked the power switch off. At the same time, Rock, Roll & Rush all lied down on the floor as they too shut down... while Sonic, Amy & TodStar covered the opening of the cave with more junk lying around. By the time GUN troopers arrived, all they could see was a pile of junk where the Freedom Fighters were hiding. As footsteps began circling their hideout, the Freedom Fighters that were awake had become very nervous by the thought that their cover could be blown at any second...

At that moment, Pit was lying on the bed in his prison cell feeling very guilty...  
"(What have I done to deserve this?)" He thought. "(I know I was late for my shift yesterday, but Lady Palutena has never led me into a trap! At least, not into a trap that she knows I can't get out of... and now she won't even talk to me...)" Just then, Pit heard the bars in his cell getting hit.  
"Hey, angel-face. You have visitors." Said the guard, before Phoenix & Athena stepped into Pit's view, making the angel uncomfortable.  
"Uhh, guard? I think these two might be at the wrong cell..." He nervously said, making Athena squeal.  
"Aww, he's so cute!" She said to Phoenix while continuously stroking her hair, making both the adult lawyer and angel boy uncomfortable. "Is this who we're defending in court tomorrow, Boss?" It was then that Pit looked up at the two.  
"Wait... you two are laywers?" He asked.  
"That's right. Palutena herself hired us to defend you." Phoenix replied, startling Pit. "My name is Phoenix Wright of the Wright Anything Agency. And this is my protégé, Athena Cykes."  
"N-nice to meet you. I-I'm Pit, servant of the Goddess of Light." Said Pit, before mumbling to himself.  
"How could she forget you, Pit?" Asked Athena, shocking Pit with her heightened sense of hearing. "C'mon, you're the captain of her guard! And let's not forget how cute you are!" This made Pit blush a little, while Phoenix pulled up a bench so he & Athena could sit in front of Pit's cell.

"(Okay, I'd better save Pit from getting glomped...) Let's get to the reason why we're here..." Wright pointed out, as the three of them sat down. "Do you know why you've been arrested, Pit?"  
"Because I was supposedly involved in what you humans call The Age of Palutena's Eclipse..." Pit replied, while hanging his head. "And Lady Palutena said that you all needed to know the truth about those three years..."  
"You mean the three years where you led Palutena's Army to cause all that pain to countless towns and innocent people?!" Snapped a digital voice from Athena's necklace, scaring Pit and startling Athena in the process.  
"Agh! Widget!" She said in a panic, while covering the red orb where the voice came from.  
"Th-that wasn't me!" He said with fear in his voice. "I-I had no control over my body at that time!"  
"So... were you aware of what you were forced to do?" Phoenix asked Pit, who shook his head.  
"I had NO idea what was happening! M-m-my soul was trapped inside a ring!" The scared angel replied, though Athena didn't seem sure about Pit's alibi...  
"You know that's not gonna hold up in court, right kid?" She pointed out as she played with her earring, but Phoenix mentioned something else.  
"It could... there's plenty of different rings out there..." He stated. "...not to mention Apollo has one of his own, last I checked..."  
"I'm telling the truth!" Said Pit, looking very scared as he did so. "You HAVE to believe me!" It was then that Phoenix placed his hand on Pit's shoulder.  
"I do believe you, Pit." He told the angel in an attempt to calm him down. "(Of course, I have next to **no** idea how I'm gonna **prove** it...)"

At the local library an hour later, Phoenix let his head fall onto a book he just closed.  
"There's no way I can prove it..." He mumbled into the book cover, while Athena had just woken up when the book she was reading beforehand slid off of her face and into her lap.  
"Ahh! Nein!" She panicked, before falling out of the chair she was sitting in... and a different book fell on her head! Athena was angry enough to feel like throwing the book away when she picked it up, until she saw a familiar figure engraved on the cover... "Uhh, Mr Wright? Do you think this is what the Goddess of Light looks like?" Athena shoving the book in his face was enough to perk Phoenix back up! Especially when he noticed some other things about the book...  
"Chaos' Next of Kin..." He muttered, while looking at the side of the cover... as well as the first and last pages of the book... "Hmm... no author... although judging from her phone call, I can imagine Ms Palutena looking something like that..."  
"I can't see her being that angry or power-hungry, though..." Athena pointed out, making Phoenix nod.  
"Yeah... I'm not sure it'll be enough for court, but let's give it a read. Back at the hotel..." Both laywers then yawned as they headed towards the counter of the library.

At that moment, night had fallen around the remains of Robotropolis, which was when GUN left the area. Little did they know that the Freedom Fighters had all fallen asleep. TodStar did slightly wake up to see the GUN searchlights fade away... but he also saw Amy & Lily smiling as they held each other close while sleeping. While he was happy for his friends, it did make him think of someone else dear to him...  
"(Nicole... I **will** find you... somehow...)" He thought, before going back to sleep.

Meanwhile, as night fell in Hyrule, Princess Zelda had gathered her army and the Knights of Mercia in front of her new castle, after learning of the Underworld Army's approach.  
"Sir Lancelot... do you trust the people who gave you this warning?" She asked the hedgehog knight that resembled Shadow.  
"Percival & Lamorak have earned their place amongst our knights..." Lancelot replied. "And as such, they have earned our late king's trust... just as they have earned my own..." Just then, a large number of different creatures emerged from the ground... but in front of them appeared to be a foggy silouette of a pink echidna that made Lancelot drop his sword in shock.  
"Lancelot! What is wrong? Retrieve your blade!" Shouted Impa, but the hedgehog couldn't move.  
"It... cannot be...Guinevere?" Was all Lancelot could mutter as he stared at the foggy figure... before it gestured to attack.

A squadron of flying creatures made the advance first. And while they did shoot energy blasts at the warriors, their attacks were either blocked by swords or shields... or they were sent flying back, thanks to Galahad's unique abilities. Both Gawain & Lamorak threw their swords at the creatures -their swords returned to them afterwards- Link shot arrows at what enemies he could with his bow, while Percival launched fireballs from her rapier at them, and Zelda shot them with Light Arrows. Meanwhile, Proxi flew away from Link in order to talk to Lancelot.  
"Lancelot, what's gotten into you?!" She screamed, making the hedgehog look up at the fog of the echidna again.  
"That... is Queen Guinevere..." He hesitated to say, as the battle continued around them. "After the fall of King Arthur... she was to be my betrothed... until Arthur dragged her down to the Underworld with him." Proxi then rammed into Lancelot's face!  
"Jeez, this'd have to be the second time I've woken somebody up today!" She exclaimed. "That cannot be the same woman you loved! If it were, she wouldn't be attacking your home right now!" Lancelot realized she was right, and he picked up his sword, before he threw red light darts at the rest of the flying enemies, vaporizing them instantly!  
"I shall deal with the leader." Was all he said before he raced towards the rest of the enemy force, slicing through anything that was in the path of his target. "Get out of my way!"

Mere seconds later, Lancelot broke his way towards the foggy silouette of Guinevere. And despite her indeed being a foggy silouette, he could make out all of the details that he remembered about her; She resembled the mysterious echidna known as Sky, but there was a lot more blue-and-sky-blue covering her, along with a crown and gold armor.  
"Guinevere... why? Why are you leading this attack against your own home?" He asked her. The foggy echidna didn't verbally respond... but she did make her Underworld forces around her stop their advance on Lancelot as she unsheathed her dual blades, making Lancelot hold his own out in front of him in defense. "Please... don't do this..." Almost immediately after he said that, Guinevere leapt at Lancelot and twirled in a circle with her swords on either side of her! Lancelot managed to block every attack, before the two started their intense swordfight that took place around the battle surrounding them. After jumping back, Lancelot held more red light darts in his left hand. "Guinevere, please... stop this invasion..." The foggy echidna didn't listen, as she started running towards Lancelot, making him feel guilty. "Forgive me... my Queen." Lancelot threw the darts at Guinevere, but she used her swords to block every shot, giving Lancelot the opportunity to leap behind her and slice at her back! Not long after a tear rolled down Lancelot's cheek, the fog of Guinevere split in two before it disappeared into thin air... making all of the Underworld forces dive back down into the ground, as well. Before everyone thought the battle was over however, they all heard laughter that sounded all too familiar to the Knights of Mercia, making them angry... especially Lancelot. "Impossible!"

As morning rose over Central City, the time had come for the trial against Pit & Palutena. In a defendant lobby for one of the courtrooms of the court house stood two guards... two nervous laywers... and one VERY nervous angel.  
"Is it wrong for me to say that I'm nervous?" Asked Pit, making Athena pat him on the back.  
"Not at all." She told him. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous, too..."  
"(That makes three of us...)" Phoenix thought. "(Sure, I've won cases without any evidence to start with before... but if I fail this time, then Iris is in trouble, too...)"  
"Y-you think that book you guys found yesterday will help you?" Pit asked again.  
"Even after reading it last night, I'm not sure, Pit..." Athena replied honestly.  
"Will the defendant and his representatives please enter the courtroom?" Asked one of the guards.  
"We can't question it now." Phoenix pointed out as he led Athena & Pit towards the doors leading to the courtroom. "(But one way or another... I refuse to let this trial end without everyone learning the truth!)"

To be continued.


	7. Ch7 The Angelic Turnabout Pt3

_Episode 142_

 _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Seven: The Angelic Turnabout (_ _Part Three: The Men Who Challenged The Goddess_ _)_

"Court is now in session." Said the bailiff of a courtroom in Central City, before an elderly bald man with a thick beard entered. "All rise!" Not long after everyone in the courtroom stood up, the judge sat down and pounded his gavel down, prompting everyone else to sit... except for the bailiff, defense and prosecution.  
"Let the trial for the Goddess of Light and her subordinate begin." Stated the judge.  
"The defense is ready, Your Honour." Wright said, before everyone looked over to the prosecution side... and the residing lawyer -who looked more like a samurai with his black and white hairstyle matching his robes- had his back facing the defense. This sight made both Phoenix & Athena sweat with nerves. "(That's Blackquill, all right...)"  
"Ahem... is the prosecution ready?" Asked the judge, making the man turn his head slightly.  
"Hmph. We have been over this charade several times already, Your Baldness." He bluntly pointed out, before turning around completely revealing his pale white face, and the fact that he had a feather in his mouth. "Let's just get to the reason why we're all here."  
"Very well." The judge replied. "If you would begin your-"  
" **Hold it!** " Shouted Athena, startling everyone in the courtroom as she slammed her palm on the desk... including Phoenix! "Your Honour, the prosecution hasn't even told us who he's representing in this trial!"  
"Why, you're right, Ms Cykes. While it's too soon to be shouting and pounding in my courtroom like that..." The judge exclaimed. "...this IS an unusual case. And this court has a right to know, Mr Blackquill."  
"(You definitely dodged a bullet there, Athena...)" Wright thought while looking at Athena as she was sweating, before Blackquill scoffed.  
"As you know, the prosecutor to reside over the trial of a criminal is usually left up to the chief's decision..." He pointed out.  
"(That's right. And Edgeworth's been doing that for a few years, at this point...)" Phoenix said to himself, before Blackquill continued.  
"...but because this is an unusual case -as His Baldness has stated- my client has hand-selected me for the prosecution." This was when Phoenix got curious.  
"And who IS your client?" He asked, making Blackquill spit the feather out at Wright and slashed it before it hit him! "Gah!"  
"I'm afraid no one in this courtroom has the clearance for me to divulge that information... as it is classified, Wright-dono." This confused the judge, while both lawyers on the defense were left thinking...

"While I am slightly offended that even _I_ cannot know who the prosecution is representing, you may begin your opening statement, Mr Blackquill. We don't want the cameras to run out of film..." This made Phoenix  & Athena look around the courtroom, and they indeed found several cameras in front of the gallery, as well as in the corners of the ceiling.  
"If I may... why are there cameras in here, Your Honour?" Asked Athena, suddenly feeling nervous again.  
"It was at my client's request." Answered Blackquill, as the judge seemed just as nervous as Athena about the question. "This trial is being streamed worldwide so that everyone can witness the shameful defeat of the defense. LIVE." Phoenix suddenly felt nervous... but not as much as Athena, who appeared to be trembling.  
"Athena... are you OK?" Phoenix asked. "You're not camera-shy, are you?"  
"N-no, I'm fine. I've always wanted to be on TV." Athena nervously replied, before Widget chimed in from her chest.  
"I feel like I could throw up!" He said while glowing blue, making Athena panic a little.  
"Maybe you'd better sit down for a while... (Apollo & Trucy weren't like this, were they?)" Wright pointed out as he helped Athena to her chair, before he stood upright and cleared his throat. "Mr Blackquill? Your opening statement?"  
"I find it unnecessary, as I assume this court is well aware of why this trial is happening in the first place. So with that in mind..." Said Blackquill before he slammed his fists on his desk, startling Wright and the judge. "...the prosecution demands that the defendant take the stand!"  
"So soon, Mr Blackquill?" Asked the surprised judge, making Blackquill tap his finger to his forehead with a smirk on his face.  
"As you said, Your Baldness... we don't want the cameras to go to waste..." This made the judge nod in agreement.  
"Fair point. Bailiff, lead the defendant to the stand."

Meanwhile, evil laughter startled the warriors fighting for Hyrule... when an armored hand rose from the darkness in the ground!  
"It cannot be... Ganondorf?" Zelda hesitantly asked herself, before multiple foggy silouettes of Guinevere jumped out from that same darkness to pull the hand up. The Knights of Mercia were horrified to see the armored being in its entierty; A fully-armored warrior with a crown-shaped helmet, a glowing purple cape, a large sword that was serrated on both sides of the evil-looking blade... and there appeared to be a dark fog seeping in and out of the helmet as the warrior breathed in and out, respectively.  
"Arthur... our corrupt former king..." Muttered Lancelot as his bared his teeth in anger, startling Zelda, before he raised his voice to the entity. "This makes no sense... how have you returned?!" This made the man he called Arthur chuckle.  
"Lancelot, you naive fool." He replied, before gesturing to the silouettes. "Kill them all! Except for the Princess." As Arthur gave the order, more foggy copies of Guinevere emerged from where Arthur climbed out, and they were all armed in the same way the original was...  
"Lancelot... what should we do?" Asked Galahad, before the Knight of Never Lake gave his answer...  
"We fight."

As the foggy echidnas started running towards them, the unified army of Mercians & Hylians did the same. But as everyone was battling, Zelda dragged Impa behind a thick, damaged pillar.  
"Impa... do you have any bombs with you?" She asked her retainer, startling her.  
"Your Highness, we cannot use those bombs to defeat the enemy now... not with our allies in the line of fire!" Impa pointed out, making Zelda smirk.  
"It is not my intention to attack our enemies with them..." When Zelda said this, Impa's eyes widened in realization. Meanwhile, Gawain was struggling to hold back one of the copies... when it got stabbed from behind by Link, causing it to evaporate!  
"*pant pant* My thanks, Sir Link." He told the Hylian in the green tunic, before they parted ways to battle more of the same fog. As Percival did the same, she spotted Impa running from an explosion on her own... so the armoured cat stabbed through another foggy echidna to talk to her.  
"Impa! What has happened to Princess Zelda?" She asked Zelda's retainer, unaware that a copy was approaching from behind... until Impa sliced it in half with her Giant's Knife!  
"I asked her to find shelter, as this is no place for royalty!" Impa replied, but Percival didn't like that.  
"And yet you had no qualms with her battling against this Ganondorf that she mentioned?" Impa panicked slightly when Percival pointed that out.  
"It is... complicated." After Impa responded, Percival made another foggy echidna evaporate with a burst of fire from her Rapier.  
"Very well... but we **will** discuss it after this battle..." This made Impa uncomfortable, as the battle raged on...

As Lancelot attempted to hold back yet another foggy impostor of his beloved Guinevere, he was feeling exhaustion...  
"(No! I cannot fail here... I MUST finish what my True King started... and defeat Arthur!)" He thought as he panted while holding his sword out in defense. All of a sudden, everyone could hear what sounded like a harp being played nearby. Not only that, but the music was being played by a mysterious Hylian in clothing similar to Impa's. "(Impossible. That music... is restoring my strength?)" After the Hylian stopped playing, they leapt down towards the battle, and threw what looked like daggars at the foggy copies near them, causing them to evaporate! Lancelot took this opportunity to kick back the echidna he was dueling, before he sliced it in half with his sword. "(Now is my chance... by Arondight, I WILL destroy you, Arthur!)" Without a second thought, Lancelot charged towards King Arthur...

At that moment, Pit stood at the witness stand. And he looked a little uncomfortable.  
"The defendant will state his name and profession." Blackquill told Pit, with his back to the court.  
"Uhh... m-my name is P-Pit." The angel hesitantly replied. "I-I'm the captain of L-Lady Palutena's guard." Athena couldn't help but express emotion herself.  
"Poor Pit... it looks like he's scared of Blackquill..." She said to herself, but loud enough for Phoenix to hear, making him nod in agreement. The judge however, seemed curious about Pit...  
"Say... are those wings on your back real?" He asked, making Pit even more uncomfortable.  
"Y-yes, Your Honour. But..." Answered Pit. "...I-I can't really use them to fly. Not by myself, at least..." That was when Phoenix spoke up.  
"With all due respect, Your Honour... my client is quite sensitive about his wings. So if we could bring them up as little as possible in this trial..?" He asked, making the judge nod.  
"As you wish, Mr Wright." He replied, before turning his attention back to Pit. "Now then... you may begin your testimony, young man. About what took place during The Age of Palutena's Eclipse." Despite his nerves, Pit nodded in compliance, which was when everyone opened their ears...

 _ **Witness Testimony**_ _\- I Didn't Do It!_  
"Well, the last thing I remember before all that happened... was that I helped defeat an army of alien invaders called the Aurum..." Pit began. "The next thing I knew, I was a ring! Three years later! Then a little girl found the ring and put it on... and I realized that I could control her! Not long after that, I tripped, which made the girl drop the ring... but a dog picked it up, so I got control of the dog! Once I got to a nearby town, I saw... me... leading an army of Centurions to attack that same, defenseless town..."

Once Pit had finished speaking, Blackquill was the first to speak up.  
"And with that, Your Baldness... the defendant has just confessed to murdering dozens of innocent people." He pointed out with a smirk on his face, scaring Pit.  
"W-what?!" He exclaimed, starting to panic. "B-b-but I didn't-"  
" **Objection!** " Shouted Wright, before slamming his palms onto the desk. "How can you come to that conclusion when the defendant said that he SAW himself attacking those people?!" This made the judge nod in agreement.  
"The defense has a point." He said before the court. "Prosecutor, do you have evidence to back up your claim?" This made Blackquill start laughing while banging his hand on the desk.  
"Do you take me for a fool? Unlike the defense, I _always_ come to court prepared!" He replied, making Phoenix nervous, and Athena angry.  
"It's HIS fault I wasn't ready for that soba murder case last year..." Athena pouted loud enough only for Wright to hear, before Blackquill threw a book his way! Wright stumbled, but he managed to catch it.  
"That book tells the story of The Age of Palutena's Eclipse." Blackquill stated, as Wright had a quick look through the book in question. "Gathered from multiple victims, witnesses and sources, this book confirms that the defendant was responsible for taking well over 1000 lives in three years!" This news startled the entire court, as people in the gallery began to chatter between themselves... making the judge pound his gavel a few times.  
"Order! Order in the court!" He shouted, before turning to Pit with a stern look on his face. "Young man, explain yourself at once!"  
"Th-th-that w-wasn't m-m-me!" Stuttered Pit, feeling terrified. "I-I haven't killed any h-h-humans in my entire life!"  
" **Silence!** " Blackquill shouted. "I see no need to further prolong this trial. After all, we have a confession from the defendant -on camera, I might add- as well as decisive evidence." The judge then nodded in agreement.  
"It would seem that Mr Blackquill is correct." He said, making the defendant and his defense start panicking. "Does the defense have any objections?" Phoenix was looking through his notes as well as the presented evidence for anything that could help.  
"D-don't you have ANYTHING, Boss?!" Asked Athena.  
"I-I'm looking, I'm looking!" Phoenix replied. "(Think, Wright, think! There has to be something you can do to save Pit!)"

When Wright looked up at the judge, he was holding his gavel in the air.  
"Very well." He said. "This court finds that-"  
" **Hold it!** " Shouted Wright, making everyone look at the defense. "Your Honour, the defense requests that the witness revise his testimony!" This made Blackquill laugh and pound on the desk again.  
"Grasping at straws, Wright-dono?" He asked. "I expected more from you... we have a confession AND conclusive evidence! But you couldn't let this trial come to a quick conclusion, could you?" This made Wright shake his head.  
"Granted, I've only had a quick look at this book, Mr Blackquill..." The lawyer in blue began. "...but I feel like this only tells ONE side of the story. And I'm not convinced that we've heard the whole truth about this dark time just yet. Which is why I ask for the defendant to testify again." Blackquill turned his back to Phoenix, and put another feather in his mouth after a scoff.  
"You really haven't changed... not even after your time in Khura'in." He said to Wright, before tilting his head enough so Wright could see the smirk. "All right, I'll play along. Let us have that revision." Everyone seemed surprised by Blackquill's generosity.  
"Mr Blackquill, are you sure?" Asked the judge, making Blackquill turn his head to the wall again.  
"I don't see why not. After all, there's only one way to go after a confession in court..." Blackquill turned to face the court again, but only to tap his forehead with his finger while smirking. "...and that's further down the hole that the defense has burrowed into." This made both Phoenix & Athena feel pretty nervous.  
"(Thanks for the vote of confidence, Blackquill...)" Thought Wright, before the judge nodded.  
"Very well. Defendant, you may indeed revise your testimony." He told Pit, who seemed confused.  
"Uhh... what does that mean?" Asked the angel at the stand.  
"It means you can rephrase what you've said already." Athena replied, making Pit understand. "Just remember to stick to the truth, OK?"  
"O-OK."

As the testimony began, Lancelot made it through the foggy battalion to King Arthur, who seemed pleased to see the Knight of Never Lake.  
"Arthur. We were led to believe that King Rob banished you to the Underworld..." Lancelot stated, making Arthur chuckle.  
"Do you remember this, Lancelot?" Asked Arthur, as he revealed a strange-looking jar that made Lancelot's eyes widen in horror.  
"The Jar of Phantasmal Fog..." He exclaimed. "...I thought there was something familiar about these imposters..."  
"Precisely." Arthur replied, as he opened the jar to unleash more foggy copies of Guinevere upon the rest of the already-exhausted Knights of Mercia & Warriors of Hyrule. "After it was found within Sylvania Castle, I knew it would come in handy for me someday..." As Arthur told his tale, Lancelot watched as he allies were struggling to defend against the enemy. "And so after I was exiled, I sent a duplicate of my Queen to my former chambers, where I had her slay the pretender to the throne!" Lancelot was horrified by this information, but it also made him slowly face Arthur in anger. "With his death, I was granted passage from the Underworld... and I now have the power to face the Goddess of Light herself!"

"Not if I silence you, first!" Lancelot shouted as he leapt at Arthur, and attempted to slice his head off by spinning around in the air with his sword facing outward! Arthur merely blocked Lancelot's attack... while holding his sword with one hand! "What?!" Lancelot tried slashing from different angles, but Arthur could hold him back without ever grasping his own sword with both hands.  
"Lancelot, you disappoint me. You were once the strongest and most loyal of my Knights of Mercia." Arthur stated, after Lancelot jumped back to catch his breath. Arthur then held his sword up in the air to unleash dark lighting at Lancelot, but he barely blocked it with his own sword. "Surely you can do better." Lancelot then threw small darts of red energy at Arthur, which was enough to make him slide back... which was when the Knight of Never Lake started moving in a circle around Arthur as fast as he could in order to throw darts at him from all directions. This didn't seem to do all that much to Arthur... which allowed him to charge at Lancelot at the right moment! But Lancelot was waiting for this, as his eyes were glowing blue...  
"CHAOS PUNISHMENT!" He shouted, before warping out of harm's way in a method much like Chaos Control... and reappeared in front of Arthur in an effort to stab at his chest... but Arthur deflected the thrust, making Lancelot warp to his side so he could slice his head off again... but again, Arthur was ready for it, and swung his sword to protect himself! Lancelot then tried warping behind Arthur to stab him from behind... however, Arthur stopped him by raising his sword in the air to strike dark lightning down at Lancelot's sword, blocking the thrust as the blue light surrounding Lancelot faded.  
"Resistance is useless, Lancelot." Arthur stated at the attack continued, unaware that Lancelot's eyes were glowing red through his visor... "Once you are slain by my blade, Deathcalibur... I shall claim this land and its current monarch for the Underworld."  
"No..." Lancelot grumbled, as a red light started glowing around him, much like the blue light earlier. "...YOUR death is certain, Arthur. You... WILL... **DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!** " As Lancelot screamed, the red energy that was building up within him was expelled in massive explosion that engulfed both him and Arthur, as well as a large portion of Hyrule Field, where everyone else was fighting!

 _ **Witness Testimony**_ _\- I Didn't Do It! Pt2_  
"I-I didn't kill anyone! I already said that I was trapped in that ring!" Pit said, while trying to supress his fear. "Or at least, my soul was. I guess my body was a mindless puppet, at the time. I didn't even get back to my body until I got some help from Magnus!"

Blackquill still seemed uninterested by Pit. Which was why he revealed a piece of paper with something handwritten on it.  
"Hm? What do you have there, Prosecutor?" Asked the judge.  
"The very piece of evidence that contradicts _this_ testimony, as well." Blackquill replied, startling Wright, Athena  & Pit. "This is a note from the late warrior Magnus, moments before he set out on his mission to defeat the angel in court today. It was properly archived to honour the warrior, and I requested that it be brought before us today."  
"WHAT?!" Pit shouted in horror.  
"Don't keep us in suspense, Mr Blackquill... read it at once!" The judge told the prosecution, who scoffed at the order.  
"Very well. And I quote..." Blackquill replied, before reading what was written. " _Today's the day. Mankind has suffered long enough. With that anonymous tip, I'm finally gonna get that angel and his goddess, put a stop to them once and for all, and make 'em pay for what they've done! Don't wait up - Magnus_ "

The judge looked rather surprised by what was read out.  
"It seems unlikely that one man would be able to fight off Palutena's Army..." He pointed out, as Athena looked back at Pit's testimony on a holographic screen being projected by Widget... that showed four different facial emotions in each corner of the screen...  
"Magnus was known for his incredible strength, Your Baldness. Perhaps he was a devoted warrior from a young age..." Blackquill replied, while Athena spotted two of the faces on her screen flashing different colours as she read part of Pit's testimony. "Speculation aside, this note proves that Magnus had no reason to side with the defendant!"  
" **Objection!** " Shouted Athena as she pointed toward Blackquill, with the screen still being projected from Widget. "Pit... I was just going over your testimony, and I couldn't help but notice that you were experiencing both joy and anger when you mentioned Magnus..." Pit seemed started by what Athena just said to him.  
"I-I did? How did you pick up on that?" He asked.  
"I told you yesterday that I have a heightened sense of hearing." She replied with a grin, before returning to her calm-yet-serious state, while Phoenix just looked on in amazement. "But would you please explain to the court why you felt this way in your testimony?"  
"Right. Uhh..." Pit nervously began. "...from what I remember, the only reason why Magnus was in that town was to get rid of me... but after he put on that ring and I could control his body... we could somehow talk to each other, which was when we discussed what we knew as we searched for MY body..."

This statement made Athena cross her arms with a big smile on her face.  
"And that's why that note isn't exactly decisive evidence. **Take that!** " He pointed out, making the gallery talk amongst themselves, as the holographic screen faded back into Widget.  
"Way to go, Athena!" Exclaimed Wright.  
" **Silence!** " Blackquill shouted, before slammed his fists on his desk in protest, startling everyone in the courtroom. "This is nonsense! Where is your proof that this note is as inconclusive as you claim?!"  
"Take another look at the book, Mr Blackquill. You might be surprised to find some people mentioning the note in question..." Wright said with a smirk on his face, as well as his hands on his hips. As Blackquill flicked through the book to what he thought were the decisive points, he was horrified to see that the note was indeed mentioned... making both Phoenix & Athena smirk even more.  
"No... NO!"  
" **Take that!** " Wright exclaimed, before addressing the judge. "Your Honour... as the prosecution has just realized, the book indeed mentions the note from Magnus... but neither of which indicate the time when Magnus reunited with my client again."  
"Furthermore, this testimony confirms that the book focuses on just **one side** of the victims of this disaster." Added Athena, making the gallery start whispering again, before Phoenix continued.  
"In conclusion, Your Honour, as my protégé has already pointed out... my client's testimony has NO clear evidence against him!"  
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Blackquill screamed as something appeared to have slashed at him.

Moments later, after everyone had calmed down, the judge was the first to speak.  
"Well, it may have gone longer than the prosecution planned, but it would seem that this trial has reached its quick conclusion." He pointed out, making the defense sigh with relief. "Does the prosecution have anything else to present?" Blackquill didn't respond verbally, but he gave a note to his pet hawk, who flew over to land on the judge's head, and dropped the note in his hands. "Hmm? 'This is all I was hired to do'?"  
"Thank you, Taka." Blackquill said after the hawk flew back to him, before he gently scratched the bird's neck. While that was happening however, someone in the gallery was shoved.  
"In that case, I am now ready to make my verdict heard." Said the judge. But as he raised his gavel in the air, the person from the gallery who was shoved made his way to the witness stand. He appeared to be a tall-yet-fat man with a bushy orange-brown moustache, wearing visor-like sunglasses, an orange bandana over his head, a yellowish-green tank-top with the skull logo reading 'Monsterous Garage' on it, as well as black pants and boots that looked a little familiar...  
"WAAAAAIIIIIIT!" He screamed, scaring everyone in the courtroom before slamming his palm and fist on the railing of the stand, respectively. "As a victim of the Eclipse... *pant wheeze pant* ...I demand the right to testify to this court!" This made the gallery start talking, before the judge smacked his gavel again.  
"Order! Order!" He shouted, before directing his attention to man on the stand. "Why haven't you been officially classified as a victim?!"  
"I-I was abandoned prior to the incident, Your Honour. And as such, I didn't have a name at the time..." The man replied, making people question his legitimacy. "Despite that, I want that awful angel to suffer for what he did to me!" The judge seemed to be in deep thought about this... while Phoenix & Athena were looking at the man on the stand in disgust and confusion.  
"Hmm... does either side have any objections to this witness?" He asked, making both Blackquill AND Wright shake their heads, startling Athena.  
"Boss, what're you doing?! We had this without that junker stinking up the place!" She asked.  
"I don't like it either, Athena..." Wright replied. "...but if we want the whole truth, we need to see this through..." While Athena looked concerned, the judge nodded in agreement... and the man on the stand angrily stared at Pit, scaring the angel...

At that moment, the smoke from the explosion was starting to clear throughout Hyrule Field. While all of the foggy copies of Guinevere had disappeared, and most of the warriors defending Hyrule were spared... Lancelot was lying on the ground due to exhaustion, and his armor broken in several places (including his visor)...  
"Did he get him?" Asked Impa, as she swung her Giant's Knife around to rest it on her shoulder. As everyone stared ahead of the exhausted Lancelot, more of the smoke cleared... and while Arthur appeared to be on his knees due to fatigue, he held a scabbard that frightened the Knights of Mercia.  
"NO!" Gawain loudly exclaimed, confusing Zelda, who suddenly emerged from a nearby cloud of smoke.  
"What is wrong, Sir Gawain?" She asked. "Surely he is beaten..."  
"Not with the scabbard of Excalibur, Your Highness..." Said Lamorak. "That is the scabbard for THE sacred sword of sacred swords!" When Zelda looked to Link and Lana, they both nodded, and the mark of the Triforce glowed on Link & Zelda's hands. Meanwhile, Lancelot had just gotten to his knees to see Arthur standing before him.  
"Why? Why isn't the Power of Chaos returning to me?!" Lancelot asked himself in desperation, before Arthur grabbed him by the chest.  
"Fools! The lot of you!" He proclaimed, making the Knights of Mercia tighten the grips on their swords. "With the Phantasmal Fog and the scabbard of Excalibur at my side... not even the might of the sacred swords can stop me!"

It was at this point that Zelda stepped forward, much to the dismay of Impa.  
"So you say without Excalibur itself... we are defenseless?" She asked, getting Arthur's attention.  
"Ahh... I am glad that your new princess is able to see the truth." He pointed out, as he started strangling Lancelot. Zelda then clasped her hands together as the mark on her hand continued glowing, before a triangle of gold light appeared below Arthur's feet, startling the former king. "What?! How can this be?!"  
"With the power of the Triforce, the Knights of Mercia shall finish what their fallen king started!" Announced Zelda, giving Lancelot the opportunity to kick Arthur in the stomach in order to break away and retrieve his sword! Arthur tried to lunge at Lancelot, but his feet were stuck in the light, giving Percival & Galahad their chance to stab their swords into his legs... quickly afterwards, Gawain & Lamorak both threw their pairs of blades at Arthur... two of which got stuck into his arms, while the other two struck his chest... giving Lancelot the chance to thrust his sword into Arthur's back!  
"Ughhh... do you honestly believe that is enough to stop me?" He weakly asked, making Lana smirk as the third Triforce emerged in an orb from her wrist.  
"That was just the Triforce of Wisdom..." She pointed out, before summoning a large cube of magical energy above Arthur. "Eat Power, Underworld scum!" After Lana shouted that, she threw her hand down towards the ground, making the cube come crashing down on the former king before it vaporized in a flash of light! Surprisingly, after all that, Arthur was still standing! But just barely. "All right, Link... let's see more of that Courage!" After nodding to Lana, Link held his left hand in front of him as he ran towards Arthur, with the Triforce on the back of his hand starting to surround Arthur. As Link readied his sword and yelled, a firey aura that constantly changed colours appeared around him, while the pupils and irises of his eyes were replaced with flaming orbs that had horizontal and vertical lines inside that seemed to cross at the bottom-left of the orbs. Once Link reached Arthur, he started slashing at the dark king several times, amazing all of Hyrule's defenders in the process... before he made one final slash with all of his might, which sent Arthur flying into the remains of the formerly-haunted Castle Mercia, causing it to crumble all around him!

Everyone who could walk approached the rubble as the dust began to settle. And while Lana handed the Jar of the Phantasmal Fog to Zelda, Link helped Lancelot to face the motionless Arthur.  
"At last..." Exclaimed an exhausted Lancelot. "...my King... and **my** Queen... have been avenged..." Suddenly, both he and Link heard a weak chuckle, coming from Arthur.  
"Strong words from a man... who helped kill his Queen..." He muttered as he pulled all of the swords out of him, before standing. "However... once you are taken to the Underworld..." Arthur then removed his helmet to reveal a face that horrified Lancelot... a pink echidna woman with long dreadlocks as was wearing a jeweled crown. Only her eyes looked a lifeless yellow. "...you are already dead!"  
"Gu-Guinevere?!" Lancelot asked in fear, making 'her' laugh with Arthur's voice.  
"She is nothing more than my puppet, Lancelot." Arthur replied through Guinevere, before a circle of darkness appeared beneath him, and he started sinking into it. "And I shall use her again when I return to conquer Hyrule!"  
"NOOO!" Screamed Lancelot as he tried reaching for Guinevere, but she -and Arthur- disappeared into the darkness.

Back in the courtroom, the self-proclaimed victim had finally caught his breath on the witness stand, which was when he began to speak...  
"Now then... I assume you want my name & occupation?" He asked, making the judge nod in response. The witness then pulled the straps on his tank-top so far ahead that they snapped back into place, before twirling a spanner around in his hand and posing with it. "Why, I am the BEST mechanic in Station Square! Robbie Nick, at your service!" Hearing that name, Wright seemed to question the witness in his mind. The judge however, seemed rather impressed.  
"The best, you say?" He asked. "Would it be a terrible inconvenience if I asked you to look at my car after the trial?"  
"Not at all, Your Honour!" Said Robbie, sounding rather happy about the question. "In fact, since you're letting me testify here today, I'll only charge you HALF price for a complete tune-up!" While the judge seemed happy with the witness, Athena wasn't.  
"I knew this was a bad idea." She muttered loud enough for only Wright to hear, as she angrily stared at Robbie with Widget glowing red. "He looks too trustworthy, even for a mechanic..."  
"Now you know why Apollo was always riding a bicycle everywhere." Phoenix replied, before looking back at the witness. "(I don't like this guy either, Athena... but hopefully, his testimony will mean nothing to the case...)"  
"But back to the case at hand, Mr Nick... please describe in your own words what happened during The Age of Palutena's Eclipse." Said the judge, making Robbie nod before he got serious.  
"Certainly." He replied.

 _ **Witness Testimony**_ _\- The Angel Must Pay!_  
"I was a surviving victim of those terrible three years!" Robbie angrily began. "My hometown was reduced to rubble by that arrogant angel and his backstabbing battalion!" The mechanic then got emotional as he continued his testimony. "Then that angel pointed his evil-looking bow of darkness at me, as I stood there... a helpless human boy! Just after I closed my eyes and prepared myself for my eternal end..." Robbie suddenly smacked his fists on the stand in fury, scaring everyone in the gallery. "...he just kicked me to the ground before continuing his rampage! I will NEVER forget the child-like face of that monster of a menace for as long as I live!"

While the judge seemed shocked about the testimony, Athena was furious at the accusations. Meanwhile, Wright was trying to put his finger on something... and Blackquill continued to have his back to the court, while Pit cowered in fear at the witness.  
"Well... that was quite the dramatic testimony." The judge exclaimed, making Athena speak up.  
"Yeah... maybe a little TOO dramatic, and not enough light on the tragedy..." She stated, making Phoenix realize something.  
"Listen here, young lady! I'm only telling you what I remember about that time! Which was FIFTY years ago, I might add!" Yelled Robbie as he smacked his spanner on the stand, before pointing the spanner at Athena. "If you have a problem with my testimony, please... cross-examine away!" This made Athena smack her fist into her palm with enthusiasum. And a smirk on her face.  
"Gladly!" She replied, before Phoenix leaned forward in determination. "M-Mr Wright?"  
"Leave this to me, Athena." He told his protégé, making her step back a little. "I believe I've already found something..." The judge then nodded at Phoenix.  
"Ah. I see the fire of determination in your eyes, Mr Wright." He pointed out. "By all means, begin your cross-examination."

Phoenix then picked up a book that looked familiar to him, Athena & Pit, before turning his attention to the mechanic.  
"Now, Mr Nick... you claim that the angel in this court today is the same angel you were attacked by all those years ago?" He asked as he walked closer to the witness stand.  
"That's right... I also mentioned that I'll never forget his child-like face." Robbie replied.  
"I see." Said Wright as he turned back towards the defendant's side of the courtroom. "And you also stated that the defendant wielded an 'evil-looking bow of darkness,' correct?"  
"Exactly. Just like the one he's _always_ used in battle." Just after that statement, Phoenix placed the book he was holding down on the table... and the look of angry determination returned to his face.  
" **Objection!** " He shouted as he turned around to point his finger at Robbie, startling the entire courtroom! It even made Blackquill turn around in curiosity! "I'm sorry, Mr Nick... but I'm afraid the book that I just put down contradicts your testimony."

Wright's statement caused several conversations to begin simultaneously in the gallery, making the judge bang his gavel several times as the mechanic started to sweat.  
"Order! Order! Order in the court!" He yelled, before turning to the defense. "Mr Wright, would you care to explain where the contradiction lies?"  
"Yes, Your Honour." Said Phoenix, as he picked the book back up and flicked to a certain page. "This book... Chaos' Next of Kin... was found in the Central City Public Library. And it contains information about the events prior to, during, and after The Age of Palutena's Eclipse." The judge seemed surprised by the book, while Robbie was furious at Phoenix.  
"And why did you wait until NOW to present this book as evidence?!" The mechanic asked as he constantly smacked his spanner into his hand.  
"Because I wasn't sure whether it would be relevant to the case..." Wright replied as he handed the book to the judge, before placing his hands on his hips with a smirk as he faced Robbie. "...until now." This made the mechanic raise the spanner above his head in a threatening way.  
"Oh, yeah? And why's that?" He angrily asked, making Athena & Pit hold each other in fear.  
"As His Honour will read for himself, my client was indeed seen during The Age of Palutena's Eclipse with the Darkness Bow, as you claim..." Wright calmly replied, while both Athena & Pit were scared for him being so close to the victim. "...but before AND after the disaster, the defendant was seen using weapons of light and colour!"  
"Why, look at that! You're right!" Exclaimed the judge, making Robbie tighen and loosen the tops of the witness stand in anger... as Wright turned to the witness stand again.  
"Which means that this evidence proves my client had NO evil hand in The Age of Palutena's Eclipse!" Phoenix shouted while pointing his finger at Robbie, making him smack his fists down on the witness stand.

"Grrr... that sickeningly spiky hair and bothersome blue suit..." He grumbled while gritting his teeth, after Phoenix returned behind the defense desk. "...you remind me of that horrid little hedgehog!" This opened Wright's eyes in realization, while Athena stepped in front of him.  
" **Hold it!** " She shouted. "If you want a piece of Mr Wright, you gotta go through me, first!"  
"Athena, get a hold of yourself!" Said Wright as he held Athena back, before the judge pounded his gavel again.  
"The same goes for you, Mr Nick." He told the mechanic, while Phoenix had a good look at Robbie. "Your testimony has been unable to prove the defendant's guilt. Now if you would please see yourself out..." This made the mechanic mad as he stepped off of the witness stand.  
"You'll regret this..." He warned while holding his spanner out at the judge. "For example, I'll be charging TRIPLE for your car tune-up! And I know that it's in bad shape!" Robbie then pointed his spanner to an unimpressed Blackquill. "And you... you did NOTHING to help the man who hired you! He could throw you back in jail for this!"  
" **Hold it!** " Shouted Phoenix, before pointing at the mechanic. "Your Honour, we cannot let this witness leave the courtroom!" This confused almost everyone else in the courtroom.  
"Boss, what gives? Why don't you want him to leave?" Asked Athena, but Phoenix wasn't fazed at all.  
"Because I believe there is no such person as Mr Robbie Nick in this world..." Wright replied, refusing to break his focus on the former witness. "...and while everyone here on Mobius knows about Dr Robotnik... they don't realize that I'm looking at him, right now!"

Before anyone could start talking in the gallery, the judge smacked his gavel just once.  
"Mr Wright! Explain your accusation!" He bellowed, as the bailiff escorted Robbie back to the witness stand. Except the mechanic was sweating again...  
"For starters, Your Honour... you might have noticed all of the alliteration during Mr Nick's testimony." Wright explained, making the judge nod before continuing. "Secondly, the threats he gave to you and the prosecution sounds like he knows more than he lets on..."  
"B-because of that, you DARE compare a lowly mechanic like me to the world's greatest scientist?!" The mechanic asked in anger and fear, while bending his spanner both in and out of shape repeatedly. But Phoenix wasn't finished.  
"...and finally, he mentioned that my appearance reminds him of a hedgehog that we all hate... (I'd like to know why we HAVE to hate him, but I guess that's a long story for another day...)" He added, making Robbie sweat even more. "Even putting the first two facts aside, only one man on this planet has ever displayed this much hatred towards Sonic the Hedgehog..." It was at this point that Phoenix pointed his finger at Robbie once again. "...and that's you, Dr Ivo Robotnik!" This made Robbie start using his spanner to hit himself in the head.  
"No... NO..." He muttered as he continued to hurt himself. "H-how could he have figured me OUT? I-Impossible... inconceivable... N-NNNOOOOOOOOOOO!" He then started smacking himself in the head repeatedly as he fell to the ground!

After that, the supposed mechanic appeared to have passed out. Not only that, but his sunglasses and bandana had fallen off of his head, revealing the familiar glasses and goggles of Eggman himself... making almost everyone gasp in shock and/or horror!  
"I-it's him! The Eggman!" Exclaimed someone frightened in the gallery.  
"Looks like that defense attorney was right..." Stated another from the gallery. "How does he keep doing that?!" Robotnik then woke up after the judge banged his gavel several times.  
"Bailiff, arrest that menace immediately!" He bellowed, making the bailiff and the guards outside the courtroom doors surround Eggman... but the doctor didn't seem all that concerned.  
"You're all expecting me to come quietely, aren't you?" He asked the courtroom, with Phoenix, Athena, Pit, the judge, bailiff and guards looking at him in anger. "Well, I didn't plan on going to jail..." Suddenly, Robotnik used a laser gun he had to shoot a hole in the ceiling, distracting everyone enough for an Egg Flapper to come flying in to pick him up and fly out! "...and I still don't! HAAAH HAHAHAHA!"

Within the Death Egg moments later, Sally stealthily followed the Egg Pawns that were escorting a Mobian away. While hiding behind a wall, Sally got distracted by the sight of dozens upon dozens of grape-like capsules hanging from the ceiling of the chamber.  
"(No! I can't get distracted now!)" She thought, before checking to see if the coast was clear. Once she couldn't see anymore robots in the area, Sally quietly ran deeper into the chamber. "(I have to find my brother... before Eggman can do whatever it is Tails & Nicole found in the Death Egg's plans!)" Rapidly turning her head back and forth to look in what capsules were near her, Sally quickly realized that she ran past one with a Mobian inside... when she made it back to the one she ran past, she started knocking on it, as it was indeed Elias Acorn inside! "Elias! Wake up! Come on..." Eventually, Elias slowly opened his eyes, and was nervous to see his sister standing before him.  
"...Sally? What're you doing here?" He weakly asked, making her rest her hands on her hips in frustration.  
"What does it look like?" She asked back, before activating one of her Ring-Blades. "I'm getting you out of here. Stand back!" Almost immediately after Sally stabbed into the capsule, an alarm sounded, prompting her to slice the capsule open. This let Sally pull Elias out of the capsule... but several Egg Fighters jumped down to surround them!  
"I hope you weren't expecting this to be easy..." Elias pointed out, making Sally grab his hand again while smirking at him.  
"Of course not." She replied, before turning back to the Egg Fighters blocking their escape, with her Ring-Blade out in front of her.

Meanwhile, after the dust literally settled from Eggman's escape, everyone was trying to calm down from their fears and/or fury.  
"I think it's safe to say that no one would think less of me if I were to disregard Dr Robotnik's testimony..." Announced the judge, making Athena give Pit a wink. "Does either side have any objections?"  
"None whatsoever, Your Baldness." Said Blackquill, with his back to the court.  
"I'm also happy to strike it from the record, Your Honour." Phoenix added, making the judge nod.  
"Very well. I shall now deliver my verdict..." Said the judge, which was when Athena turned to Pit with joy in her eyes.  
"We did it, Pit! We proved you're innocent!" She told the angel, making him happy.  
" **Belay that!** " Shouted a voice from the gallery, startling everyone... and making Blackquill look like he got slashed again, as he looked to where the voice came from.  
"Who was that?" Athena asked, unaware of the fear on Blackquill's face.  
"M-my... my client..." He stuttered, as footsteps could be heard approaching from the gallery. People in the gallery who could see the person in question were either afraid or in awe of this person, which made both Athena & Pit nervous, while Phoenix stood his ground. Emerging from the gallery was a man with grey hair and two differently-coloured eyes, wearing a familiar military uniform... who shocked Athena, Pit and the judge.

"C-C... COMMANDER TOWER?!" Phoenix loudly asked in disbelief and fear, as it was indeed the head of GUN standing in the middle of the courtroom.  
"Your Honour. I am here to tell you to keep Robotnik's testimony ON the record." Tower told the judge, which confused His Honour.  
"But... the defense found a contradiction in his testimony. I-it's worthless!" Explained the judge, making Tower groan.  
"I'll get to the defense. But I can vouch for Eggman in this case..." He replied, before turning to face the court again. "...because I was a witness to that attack!"  
"WHAT?!" Pit yelped.  
"THIS CAN'T BE!" Shrieked Athena.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Wright screamed in horror. After the defense's panic attack, Tower turned to face Phoenix directly.  
"Mr Phoenix Wright... you are to reject your client on behalf of the Wright Anything Agency, at once!" He told the lawyer in blue. "That's an order."  
"Mr Wright _never_ gives up until he learns the truth!" Exclaimed Pit with determination. But Phoenix continued to stand at the desk, only now he was completely still... "Right? Mr Wright?"  
"He will this time, if he knows what's good for him... or someone close to him..." Tower pointed out, horrifying Pit, and making Athena angry.  
"But... but that's blackmail!" She shouted as she smacked her palms down on the desk to lean forward.  
"Not to mention murder!" Added the now red Widget, making the judge pound his gavel to get Tower's attention.  
"Commander! Surely you should know better than to openly submit the defense to blackmail in a court of law!" He sternly stated, making Tower nod his head as he approached the prosecutioner's side of the courtroom.  
"I do, Your Honour." Replied the head of GUN. "But I know what I saw all those years ago! And if I have to resort to blackmail to get the guilty verdict I've been waiting for all my life... then so be it." Phoenix was still motionless from the shock, which concerned the other two beside him on the defense...  
"Boss? A-are you OK?" Asked Athena, before Wright held his head just above the desk in fear and shame with both hands. "Mon dieu!"  
"Mr Wright!" Pit shouted in fear. But Phoenix couldn't hear anything but his own thoughts...  
"(What do I do?!)" He asked himself in fear, as he seemed to ignore everyone else. "(I've proven that Pit is innocent... but Tower has total control of Prison Island... and he could cut off Iris' life support with the flick of a switch! Why do people always use the Feys against me like this?)"

" **Hold it!** " Shouted a voice that snapped Phoenix out of his dark spiral. When everyone looked to where the voice came, they saw three young woman standing in front of the open door to the courtroom! One of which was Trucy, but the other two women were wearing what appeared to be purple kimonos. While the shorter one had brown hair all tied up, it was the taller woman that got everyone's attention... especially with the cheeky expression on her face! "I've always wanted to say that..."  
"M-Maya?!" Phoenix asked in shock, while Pit looked quite happy to see who was at the door...  
"Lady Palutena!" He cheerfully exclaimed. It was then that the woman that Phoenix & Pit addressed as two different people looked towards the judge with a calm-yet-serious face.  
"Your Honour, not only would I like to testify about those three years..." She said while walking towards the middle of the courtroom. "...but I also have legitimate evidence that should clear the names of both Pit and myself." The judge seemed unsure about the sudden turn of events.  
"Hmm... your thoughts, Prosecutor?" He asked, making Blackquill look at Tower with disinterest.  
"Hmph." He scoffed, before turning his head slightly so people could see the feather hanging from his mouth. "I see no need to induge this woman. Especially when she is willing to present _unauthorized evidence_."  
" **Objection!** " Shouted Wright, before slamming his palms down on the desk in front of him. "If this woman wants to testify, then I say we let her! The evidence she has may not be authorized, but it could be very well be important to the case. And it is our duty to look over ALL of the facts before a verdict is reached!" This made Athena lean back and cross her arms with a smirk on her face.  
"At least Mr Wright is trying to make up for letting Robotnik take the stand..." She pointed out, making Blackquill & Tower grumble.  
"Very well, we will reconvene in 20 minutes. Until then, this court is in recess." Announced the judge, before pounding his gavel one more time.

To be continued.


	8. Ch8 The Angelic Turnabout Pt4

_Episode 143_

 _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Eight: The Angelic Turnabout (_ _Part Four: The Truth Comes Out_ _)_

After his bold escape from the Central City courtroom, Eggman was flying up to space in an Egg Shuttle... when a robot that resembled Mega Man appeared on the monitor in front of him...  
"Grr... this better be good, M'egga Man. I'm exhausted after _trying_ to do the right thing..." Robotnik complained as he rubbed the bruise on his head. M'egga Man merely smirked before slightly stepping aside to reveal what was behind him; The royal Acorn children restrained by Egg Fighters! "Oh-ho! AND they're in the Egg Grape Chamber! This is too perfect. Put me on the speakers!"  
"You're the doc, Doc." Said M'egga Man, before turning to the surrounded Sally & Elias. As music started blaring from the speakers, a screen with a live feed of Eggman started floating between M'egga Man and the Acorn kids.  
"If it isn't the biggest royal thorn in my side..." He exclaimed, making Sally angry.  
"Eggman! I swear to Chaos herself that I will put a stop to your evil scheme!" She pointed out, while pointing one of her Ring-Blades at the screen. This made Robotnik wag his finger around with a smirk.  
"I'm guessing that you didn't get the memo? I go by Robotnik now." This made Sally shrug.  
"Different name, same old evil. Now are you going to let us go quietly, or do I have to destroy the Death Egg myself?" This made Eggman cackle maniacally.  
"You really think you can succeed when your beloved Sonic failed? Take a look behind you, Princess..." When Sally & Elias turned around, they saw a familiar Mobian monkey trapped inside one of them...

"Ken!" They exclaimed in horror, as the nearby Egg Fighters continued to hold them back.  
"Ooooh ho ho ho ho ho! You thought your brother was the _only_ royalty I planned to test my Egg Grapes on?!" He asked, as M'egga Man approached a terminal near the Egg Grapes where King Khan was imprisoned. "Now watch as they turn Monkey Khan's lifeforce into precious fuel for the Death Egg! HAAAH HAHAHAHA!" Almost instantly after M'egga Man pressed a button on the terminal, the capsule that Ken was trapped in started glowing, and what appeared to be electricity started zapping into his eyes and mouth, making him scream in pain.  
"No..." Sally softly said with tears in her eyes, while struggling to break free from the robots holding her arms.  
"Stop... make it stop!" Added Elias as he cringed in horror. It was then that Sally remembered something about her... and just after her foot started glowing gold, she kicked the robot behind her up in the air! This allowed her to slice through the Egg Flighters in her way with her Ring-Blades... but she stopped when she reached the Egg Grapes, and not just because M'egga Man was building up energy in his arm cannon... but because she couldn't hear Ken screaming anymore. When Sally looked inside the capsule, all she could see was Ken's body getting drained of its lifeforce, which made her feel terrible.  
"No... I'm too late..." She said as she fell to her knees in sorrow.  
"And now that you know how my Egg Grapes work, the both of you shall be their next victims..." Eggman pointed out, as Elias was led closer to Sally. "...only your deaths will be seen by ALL of Mobius! GAH HAHAHAHA!" That's when Elias stood his ground, and turned to face Eggman on the monitor.

"I have something to say." He pointed out, to which Robotnik responded by reluctantly gesturing him to continue, much to the shock of both Acorn kids and M'egga Man. "You may have the upper hand today, but the Kingdom of Acorn will continue to stand strong. In all the years that have passed since our parents died, I have helped to keep my Kingdom safe and strong against you! GUN may still be on the hunt for Mobians the world over... but we will never surrender to the likes of you or Commander Tower! And if the peaceful Mobius of the future means that I must make the ultimate sacrifice... then so be it." Sally got emotional from Elias' speech, while Eggman merely yawned.  
"Brave last words, Your Highness. But I'm afraid they fell on deaf ears." He told the Acorn King.  
"Heh. I guess it's true what they say..." Said Elias, before he took Sally's hands. "...actions speak louder than words!" Right after saying that, Elias threw Sally overhead, so she'd be on the other side of the robots blocking their escape!  
"Elias!" She cried, as she could see him through the robots between them.  
"Sally, run!" Elias shouted to his sister, who refused to move.  
"No! Not without you!" She yelled back with tears streaming down her face.  
"Seize her immediately!" Ordered Eggman, making the Egg Fighters slowly approach Sally.  
"This is no time to argue, Sally!" Elias pointed out. "Knothole needs you. The Freedom Fighters need you. **Sonic** needs you." Just before the Egg Fighters could grab onto Sally, she stabbed two of them, before jumping off of them to start running towards the exit! Seeing his sister escape, Elias stood before the Egg Fighters with his arms up in the air, and tears welling up in his closed eyes as he smiled. "I know you'll do what's right for the Kingdom of Acorn..."  
"Don't just stand there! AFTER HER!" Shouted Robotnik, making all of the robots run after Sally. And after she avoided enemy fire for a few seconds, she jumped into an escape pod that blasted down towards Mobius! Once Sally was clear of the Death Egg, she collapsed in the pod and started crying into her hands, as the screen had the following text appear on it... DESTINATION: GREAT PLAINS. ETA: 30 MINUTES.

At that moment, Phoenix, Athena & Pit met the three women in the defendant lobby of the Central City courtroom. Seeing the taller woman that he recognized, Pit bowed before her.  
"I'm so relieved you're safe, Lady Palutena." He exclaimed, before looking up at the woman in confusion. "But shouldn't you be up at Skyworld?" This made a cheeky smile appear on the woman's face.  
"I am still in Skyworld, Pit..." She told him, confusing Pit even more before the younger girl held a red stone -in the same shape as the one on Palutena's necklace- in front of Palutena that started shining on her. Once the glow faded, in Palutena's place was another woman around the same physical age as her, only she had shorter hair and her eyes were blue.  
"I gotta say... I feel honoured to have channeled the Goddess of Light!" She said with a look of amazement on her face, in a voice that made Phoenix happy.  
"Maya!" Exclaimed Phoenix, who hugged his old friend. "It's always so good to see you."  
"You could always come back to Kurain Village to visit, Nick..." Maya replied, before smirking at Phoenix. "Do we always have to wait for trials like this to have a reunion?" The two of them shared a chuckle from that.  
"How did you even know to come here?" Asked Phoenix, making the younger girl step forward.  
"Mystic Maya told me that she had to find you." She stated, sounding a little unsure of herself. "But when I asked why, all she would say was that it had something to do with your current case..." Both Phoenix & Pit looked a little confused after that.  
"That's when she and Pearl arrived at the office." Added Trucy. "But by that time, you and Athena were already on your way here. So the three of us caught a cab, and here we are." Phoenix seemed a little nervous about that last statement.  
"You came here in a cab? All the way from Empire City?!" He asked in shock, but Trucy didn't seem worried.  
"Relax, Daddy. I know you'll win this case." She pointed out with her cheerful smile. "And when that happens, you'll get more than enough to pay the fare!"  
"(I swear, it feels like Trucy spent way too much time listening to Maya, growing up...)" Thought Wright while scratching the back of his head.

Athena then stepped forward with curiosity in her eyes.  
"By the way, Ms Fey..." She began."...how did you manage to channel Ms Palutena? From what I know about spirit mediums like you and Pearl, you can only channel the spirits of the dead..." Maya merely responded by shrugging, which was when Pit heard a familiar voice that no one else did...  
"She's the Goddess of Light. She's bound to have loopholes somewhere, right?" He nervously said.  
"I... guess that's makes sense?" Said Phoenix, unsure about the explanation.  
"It's good enough for me, Nick." Maya pointed out with a smirk.  
"Me too, Mr Nick." Added Pearl, before Pit spoke up again.  
"And Mr Wright? Lady Palutena also wants me to tell you that you don't have to worry about Iris anymore." Said the angel, getting the attention of Wright and the Feys. "She's been healed, and she's safe from the military." Phoenix sat down with a huge sigh of relief, while Maya happily nodded, and Pearl looked like she was fighting some inner turmoil... which got Trucy's attention.  
"Pearl? You OK?" She asked, making Pearl slowly nod.  
"You're still having problems with that, Pearly?" Asked Maya, making Pearl snap out of it.  
"Oh! Don't mind me, Mystic Maya..." She said while shyly "hiding" her eyes. "I-I'll get over it eventually..."  
"What was _that_ about, Boss?" Athena asked Phoenix, who chuckled in response.  
"It's a long story with Pearls..." He replied, before one of the guards approached the group. "(And there's no time to tell it, now...)"  
"Will the defendant and his representatives please enter the courtroom?" He asked them. Maya then placed her hands together and closed her eyes, but Phoenix placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her.  
"Not just yet, Maya. We should wait until _everyone_ can see you channel Ms Palutena. Just like in Khura'in." He told her, making her nod before they all walked through the two doors. Maya also slipped Phoenix what appeared to be a piece of paper that intrigued him. "(With a man as stubborn as Tower, I think we're gonna need every advantage we can get...)"

Meanwhile, sirens were blaring within the Death Egg, as Sally had escaped from Eggman's grasp... even within the hidden lab, the sirens could be heard by Bionic, Shadow Android and Sky. While Sky was a little concerned, it grew even more when the sirens suddenly stopped.  
"Something's not right..." She said loud enough for both robot hedgehogs to hear. "What's happening out there?" Bionic then typed something into a nearby keyboard, making text appear on the screen that Sky read out. "'Just a fire drill for my robots'?" While that confused Sky, it didn't sit well with Shadow Android, which was when he approached Sky.  
"Sky... are you sure that serving the Doctor is the right thing to do?" He asked, making her turn to face him in confusion and anger.  
"How can you say that, Shadow Android?" She asked back. "From here in the Egg of Peace, Dr Robotnik does everything he can to protect Mobius from evil!"  
"I admire your devotion, Sky..." Said Shadow Android, before looking guilty. "...but what if Dr Eggman IS that evil?"  
"Impossible." Sky replied, after folding her arms. "I'd know if Robotnik was the very evil I was meant to destroy..." Just then, Eggman's face appeared on the same monitor from earlier.  
"Ah, I'm glad to see that the three of you are getting along." He pointed out, unaware of Shadow Android's inner turmoil. "Which is good, because I have a mission for you."  
"A mission? Whatever it is, we'll do it for the future of Mobius!" Sky stated with determination.  
"Why can't all of my creations have your enthusiasm, Sky?" Eggman happily asked, making Sky blush slightly. "Report to the hangar bay. I'll give you a briefing once you've arrived." Once Eggman disappeared from the screen, Bionic led Sky & Shadow Android to the exit of the lab. Bionic was as emotionless as ever, while Sky was happy to carry out her creator's wishes, and Shadow Android felt guilty.  
"(Sky... if only you knew the truth about the Doctor...)" He thought as the three of them rode the elevator up from the laboratory.

At that moment back in Central City, everyone had gathered back in the courtroom; The judge had returned to his chair... Phoenix, Athena & Pit were back at the defense's desk... Tower had joined Blackquill on the prosection's side... Pearl & Trucy were sitting in the gallery together... and Maya was at the witness stand as the judge pounded his gavel to silence the chatter in the gallery.  
"Court is now reconvened for the trial of the Goddess of Light and her subordinate." He stated.  
"The defense is ready, Your Honour." Phoenix pointed out, making both Athena and Pit nod in agreement.  
"The RIGHT side is ready, as well." Added Tower, startling the judge while Blackquill had his back turned to the court. But the judge was even more startled by who was at the witness stand...  
"Ms Fey? What are YOU doing on the stand?" He asked. "You haven't been called as a witness."  
"Oh, yeah... you haven't seen how I channel spirits, have you, Your Honour?" Asked Maya, with a smirk. The judge then opened his eyes in realization.  
"That's right. You were one of the spirit mediums who worked with Mr Wright in the past..." Exclaimed the judge, before he nodded. "By all means... do what you have to do."

This was when Maya started moving her hands up to the front of her face, as if she was focusing.  
"O spirit of Lady Palutena, Goddess of Light, watching over this land from Skyworld..." She said. "...come forth... to the mortal realm!" She then clasped her hands together and looked up at the ceiling, as if she was praying. There a sudden flash of light that blinded everyone in the courtroom... and when it faded, the figure of Palutena had taken Maya's place on the stand, only she wore Maya's clothes and hairstyle (which also maintained Maya's hair colour)! Understandably, everyone in the courtroom was shocked at the sudden change!  
"Wow... Ms Fey is incredible!" Exclaimed Athena, making Phoenix nod in agreement.  
"I've seen Maya do that a lot throughout my career..." He pointed out. "...and it never ceases to amaze me." The judge was staring in amazement, as were Pearl & Trucy. Even Blackquill looked intrigued! Tower however, was not convinced.  
"Witness! State your name and profession, at once!" He ordered, after slamming one of his palms onto the desk.  
"(Why am I suddenly seeing Edgeworth in Tower's place?)" Wright asked himself, before Palutena opened her green eyes and spoke up.  
"I am Palutena. The Goddess of Light." She stated, making people in the gallery gasp in awe. "I guess you could say that my job is to watch over you all..."  
"It's like she's really here..." Exclaimed Pit, making Palutena face him with a cheeky grin.  
"I **am** here, Pit." She told him, making him nervous. "Buuut I'm also still in Skyworld, watching over everything."  
"So _this_ is the power of a spirit medium..." Said Blackquill, amazed at how easily Maya seemed to channel Palutena. Tower still didn't seem convinced, while the judge finally found the courage to speak.  
"Ahem... Lady Palutena..." He nervously said, getting the goddess' attention. "...while I have many questions for you, I must ask you to recall what transpired over the three years that have been in question throughout this entire case."  
"That's why I'm here, Your Honour." Palutena replied, making everyone focus on her.

Meanwhile, hidden within the sewers of Empire City, the Mario Bros and Princess Peach looked bored as they watched television with Mouser, who looked about as disappointed as them.  
"Does this trial have to be on every channel?" Asked Mouser. "I'm missing my stories for this!"  
"This IS kind of an important case..." Luigi pointed out. "It all boils down to whether or not the Goddess of Light was responsible for that tragedy all those years ago..."  
"I don't believe she was..." Said Peach, getting the attention of the guys. "If the Goddess of Light was indeed the culprit... then why would she give me a warning in my dreams?" The Mario Bros nodded in agreement, but Mouser wasn't sure...  
"Hmm. Is it possible that she is trying to make up for past mistakes?" Mouser asked, making her nod in understanding. But he still looked guilty. "I only wish our home was more accommodating to royalty..." This made Peach shake her head.  
"This is fine, Master Mouser." She replied as she bowed before him. "After all, if your home were to stand out, you would be _easily_ found by Bowser."  
"You are indeed wise, Your Highness..." Said Mouser, before the four of them suddenly heard something splattering on the walls nearby. This made Mouser jump out of his chair and swiftly move towards the exit. "Stay here."

When Mouser peered out of their hideout, he was happy to see two GUN patrol troopers getting what looked like blue and/or pink paint splattered all over them.  
"Aaahh! My eyes!" Cried one of the troopers, as the other tried to return fire, but the bullets went right through their humanoid attackers; While both of them had tentacle-like hair, ears and teeth that resembled squids, they wore similar shorts with different-coloured lines down the sides, as well as the same plastic tubes on their backs with different coloured paint in each one. The boy -with blue hair/tentacles- was wearing what appeared to be a high-tech headset with a neon safety jacket and matching shoes. The older girl -who had black tentacles/hair tipped with pink- wore a pink beanie (that also had a gold star on the side), black sunglasses, and purple shoes that also had a hint of yellow to them.  
"Nice try pal, but we're all boneless!" Said the older girl with cockiness in her voice, horrifying the GUN troopers. She then waved a large paint roller at them, covering both of them in pink paint!  
"No! Our weapons our useless!" Exclaimed one of them, while the other continued shooting in vain. Just before they could run into the left tunnel ahead of them, a streak of lime-green was blasted in front of them. "A sniper?!" The shot came from an opening up behind them. Another girl that appeared to be the same age as the girl, only she had light-grey hair/tentacles. She wore a green hat, a white face-mask, a green t-shirt, the same sort of shorts and plastic tube as the other three, as well as yellow-and-green shoes.  
"Other left, fellas." She said with little emotion, making the GUN troopers run in that direction.  
"Retreat! All personnel, fall back!" Cried one of the troopers as they ran away in a panic.

"Ah, I'm glad to hear that Cuttlefish received my message..." Mouser stated, making three of the four humanoids approach him.  
"Hey, you helped him out a lot, back in the day." Said the girl. "Now I guess you guys are even!" Suddenly, the other girl holding the sniper-like weapon contacted her.  
"Agent 1, you know Master Mouser and the Cap'n go way back." She told her, making her groan in response.  
"Relax, Agent 2. It was a joke." The girl called Agent 1 replied, before turning back to Mouser. "Anyway... who's this escort mission for?" Mouser then turned back to his home.  
"You can come out now, Your Highness." He said, making Peach and the Mario Bros emerge from the exit. "These are Agents 1, 2 & 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. They're here to take you to a place where you'll be safe from GUN." Both Mario & Luigi seemed a little sceptical, but Peach seemed to like who Mouser was referring to.  
"So... where exactly are you taking us?" Asked Mario.  
"Our home city of Inkopolis." Agent 1 replied, sounding cocky as she did so. "GUN wouldn't dare challenge us Inklings!"  
"Especially after today..." Added Agent 2, who was smirking as she softly said that. Agent 3 then gestured at Agent 1 that they had to get moving. "But the newcomer's right. No doubt they'll want to find out what happened down here."  
"I wish you all well." Said Mouser, before he ran into his home and the entrance slammed down behind him. This was when Agent 3 raced behind the Mario Bros & Peach, so Agents 1 & 2 could lead them down the left tunnel.

 _ **Witness Testimony**_ _\- Gods Are Not Invincible_  
"I know that just about everyone here blames me for those three years... but the truth is... *sigh*" Palutena stated, feeling terrible as she did so. As did Pit, listening along with everyone else. "...I was just as much of a puppet as Pit was... only my soul was in much greater danger..."

As Palutena finished her testimony, she looked around to see different expressions amongst everyone in the courtroom; Pit had cringed from having to relive those moments. Phoenix, Blackquill and the judge had lowered their heads in sympathy, as Athena, Trucy and Pearl all felt sad for Palutena. Tower's face was still full of rage, while everyone in the gallery seemed to be expressing similar emotions.  
"Milady... that was truly a tragic tale." Said the judge, making Tower smack both of his fists on the prosecutor's desk.  
" **Objection!** " He angrily yelled. "How do we know that she's not making any of this garbage up?!"  
" **Objection!** " Shouted Athena in response. " _I_ know because I could hear the pain in her voice, Commander. Surely you're aware of my background?" This made Tower silently growl as he stood upright again. "In fact, with so much sadness and fear in her voice throughout her testimony... I would like to give Ms Palutena a quick therapy session, if I may, Your Honour?"  
"Absolutely not! You're just gonna twist her words into an even more elaborate lie!" Tower bellowed, before the judge slammed his gavel.  
"Commander, restrain yourself!" He yelled with a stern look on his face. "I have seen Ms Cykes work her magic in courtrooms such as this many times. And as such, they have helped bring out the truth." This made Tower slam his fist on the desk in anger again.  
"No one outranks His Baldness in a courtroom, Commander. Not even you." Blackquill stated, making Tower glare at him.

The judge then gestured at Athena to continue, allowing her to lightly press her finger on Widget, which produced a holographic screen similar to when she studied Pit's previous testimony. Only this time, a siren-like sound could be heard from the screen as the sad face on the bottom-left cringed while growing bigger... before it exploded and nothing but the sad tone could be heard from the screen, startling everyone in the courtroom!  
"Carumba! This is very bad!" Athena exclaimed in shock.  
"What's wrong, Athena?" Asked Pit.  
"Palutena's testimony... it's consumed by sadness and fear." Stated Athena, who looked concerned. "I-I haven't seen anything like this since my very first case!" This confused Phoenix.  
"Well... can't you do what you did then, and isolate the problem?" He asked, as Athena was looking at the images of Palutena and the text from her testimony onscreen.  
"I-I'm trying, Boss!" She replied, as sweat started sliding down from her head. Tower merely scoffed at the defense's struggles.  
"The only good thing to come out of modern technology is weaponry to use on our enemies." He stated.  
" **Silence!** " Shouted Blackquill, startling Tower. "Leave the woman to her work. She is more than capable of deciphering the goddess' testimony."  
"If this really IS the Goddess of Light..." Tower muttered, as Athena spotted the silouette of what appeared to be a large flying insect keeping Palutena close to it with its stubby legs wrapped around her.

" **Got it!** " Exclaimed Athena, before wiping the sweat from her forehead... and facing Palutena. "Ms Palutena... I know that this is hard for you and Pit... but I need to ask you what _this_ is." Athena then showed Palutena the silouette she found on the screen, making the goddess and Pit cringe in fear.  
"Something I hoped I'd never have to see again..." Pit said while gritting his teeth.  
"...the Chaos Kin." Added Palutena. "THAT is what was controlling me all those years ago..." While almost everyone in the courtroom felt sorrow for Palutena, Tower still wasn't convinced.  
"This is pure speculation!" He exclaimed. "Where's your proof that this thing even exists?!" Palutena then looked over at Phoenix.  
"I believe there _is_ proof... in that book you presented, Mr Wright." She told him, making the attorney flick through "Chaos' Next of Kin" to find the image in question.  
"Hmm... I think I've found it..." He said, before holding it up to Palutena so she could compare to the image onscreen; It was indeed a similar insect with a claw-like tip on its tail, one eye, and moth-like wings.  
"Yes. That's the one." She responded.  
" **Objection!** " Shouted Tower. "How do we know that that book isn't fabricated evidence?!"  
"Overruled, Commander. Mr Wright has already stated that the defense **found** this book within the Central City Public Library." He replied, making Tower grit his teeth in anger. The judge then turned to Palutena once again. "As for this Chaos Kin you mentioned, I'm afraid you will have to revise your testimony, milady."  
"I understand, Your Honour." Said Palutena, while nodding in agreement.

 _ **Witness Testimony**_ _\- Gods Are Not Invincible Pt2_  
"*sigh* A monster known as the Chaos Kin had taken control of my body... and in those three years, it destroyed mankind's faith in me..." After that Palutena seemed to be smiling, as was Pit. Only his smile was more nervous. "I'm just glad I managed to seal Pit's soul inside that ring beforehand... or he may not have saved us all from the Chaos Kin's wrath..."

Perhaps the most surprised by Palutena's testimony was Pit.  
"So... Hades and Viridi were telling the truth?" He asked in disbelief. "You were the one who turned me into that ring, Lady Palutena?"  
"It's true, Pit. And I really am sorry." Palutena replied with guilt on her face. "But I had foreseen myself doing terrible things after we defeated the Aurum... and I thought that the best thing to do was to keep you safe in some way, because I _knew_ you would come through for me." Both Pit and Athena had tears in their eyes, but Pit used his arm to wipe them away before he spoke up again.  
"*sniff* I-I understand, Lady Palutena." He told her. "I only wish that your sacrifice didn't cause the world so much pain..." Palutena then hung her head in shame, so no one could see her eyes.  
"Believe me, Pit... I live with that guilt every day..." She said, as tears fell from her face. But that's when Commander Tower spoke up.  
"I'm sure this was all well rehearsed..." He bluntly said, making almost everyone glare at him. "...but didn't you say that you had 'evidence' to present?" After wiping away her tears, Palutena then revealed a compact disc from a pocket in Maya's robes.  
"This disc contains recorded footage of when Pit fought me while I was under the Chaos Kin's control." She pointed out, while handing it to the judge. "But I feel like these are going the way of video tapes..."  
"Hmph, I know exactly what you mean, milady." The judge replied. "Bailiff, bring in a television with a disc player, at once."

In the Death Egg at that moment, Shadow Android, Bionic and Sky arrived in the hangar with Dr Eggman waiting for them at an Egg Shuttle.  
"Ahh, three of my finest creations..." The Doctor exclaimed. "Are you excited about your first mission?" Bionic just stood still, while Shadow Android's face was full of anger... and Sky bowed before Robotnik with a smile on her face.  
"I don't know about these two, but I definitely am, Doctor!" She pointed out, unaware that M'egga Man had just entered the hangar.  
"That's the attitude I'm looking for!" Said Eggman, before a hologram of Sally started projecting from the ceiling. "This is Princess Sally Acorn. Don't let her appearance deceive you. Not only is she royalty, but she is also part of the major pain in my side known as the Supression Squad. Your objective is simple; Bring her back to the Egg of Peace. ALIVE." Bionic was completely emotionless (and motionless), while Shadow Android bared his teeth at the sight of Sally... and Sky seemed curious about something...  
"If I may, Doctor..." She asked. "...why do you want us to bring her back here?"  
"It's just so I can help the Princess see the error of her ways, dear Sky. Simple as that." Eggman replied, but Sky started darting her eyes back-and-forth in confusion. "The escape pod she used is being tracked as we speak, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem... unless it has already crashed on the planet's surface." Putting her doubts aside, Sky saluted at the Doctor with a smile on her face.  
"We won't let you down, sir!" She stated, before she and the robot hedgehogs boarded the Egg Shuttle... unaware that M'egga Man was still watching, and he didn't look happy.  
"Just you wait, Doc..." He said to himself. "...I'll complete their mission before they even get close to that escape pod!" Just then, M'egga Man teleported out of the Death Egg in a beam of purple light.

Moments later in the Central City courtroom, the disc was inserted into the player underneath the TV, and on the screen was footage of a ruined coliseum... which Pit was seen running into, armed with a blue-and-gold blade-like bow. Pit stopped when he saw Palutena standing on the other side, armed with her scepter and shield. While everyone else was intrigued, neither Pit nor Palutena could bare to watch...  
"So you're here to fight me, Pit?" Asked Palutena onscreen, making the one in the courtroom feel guilt once more.  
"No..." The Pit onscreen softly replied, before a look of determination appeared on his face. "No! I'm here to SAVE you!" [*6] The court watched the footage with interest and shock as the battle reluctantly began with Pit keeping his distance from Palutena. "So you're saying that if I shoot at Lady Palutena, that should drive the Chaos Kin out of her body?" The Pit onscreen stayed silent while avoiding Palutena's attacks, as if he was listening to someone else. "All right, no melee attacks. Got it." Pit then started firing arrows at Palutena from a distance, but only one managed to hit her.  
"Well... someone just lost my loyalty..." Palutena said to Pit, before creating an explosion near Pit. "...my respect..." While saying that, she blasted towards Pit in a spiraling motion, that he blocked. "...my love!" Palutena then thrusted her scepter into the ground before rocketing up in the air, creating an explosion underneath her that Pit barely evaded!  
"And that's how I know you're a fake!" Pit shouted as he ran around Palutena and fired his bow at her again... this time, hitting her in the stomach. "The Lady Palutena _I_ know would NEVER say something like that!"  
"Ngh. It's like I said when you were first brought back here..." Palutena replied, before Pit shot at her again, making her summon a rectangular barrier that bounced Pit's attack back at him! "...everyone changes, Pit." Palutena then fired three small blasts from her scepter, all of which directly hit Pit. "Even gods." Almost immediately after saying that, Palutena fired an enormous purple energy blast from the tip of her scepter, making Pit scream in pain as it blasted through him!  
"Please... help me... Viridi..." Pit weakly said as he struggled to get on his knees, while holding out his palm as Palutena slowly walked towards him... Pit then collapsed before Palutena, making her smirk. But that smirk quickly faded when Pit suddenly vanished, making Palutena look around to see a battered Pit aiming his bow directly at her stomach! "Give back the Goddess of Light, you monster!" _Just_ before Pit fired, Palutena warped to the other side of the coliseum... but she didn't know that Pit's arrow shot had curved around, as it had locked onto her. Not too long after Pit's attack hit her stomach, Palutena fell to her knees, as the large bug-like monster emerged from her back... but her body was turned to stone, as the bug had an orb of light held tightly by its tail! "Ohh, no! You are NOT eating her soul, too!"

Suddenly, the footage on the disc had stopped, leaving almost everyone in the courtroom with horror and/or confusion on their faces. While Pit and Palutena hid their eyes from everyone in shame, both Athena & Pearl looked like they were about to cry.  
"After that, I got some help to chase after the Chaos Kin, and we _eventually_ got Lady Palutena's soul back to her." Pit added after the footage ended, still hiding his face as he did so.  
"I am truly sorry to have put the two of you through that again..." Said the judge, before looking at Athena trying to wipe her eyes dry. "I'm sure Ms Cykes would agree, if she could..." Athena nodded as best she could.  
"It's all right, Your Honour." Palutena replied. "I always knew that we would have to answer for what the Chaos Kin made us do, eventually."  
"Your Honour, how can you not see it?! That footage was obviously staged!" Shouted Tower, making Palutena nod.  
"I suspected you would react this way, Commander... which is why I have something else to present as evidence..." She replied, before flipping Maya's hair over her shoulder, turning around and lowering the back of Maya's robes. This made Pit shield his and Pearl's eyes in a panic!  
"Is something the matter, Mr Pit?" Asked the judge.  
"Lady Palutena! You know that there could be kids reading this fanfic!" He shouted at Palutena, who seemed as confused as everyone else. "You don't want to give them the wrong idea, do you?"  
"Oh, Pit..." Palutena replied after giggling a little. "I'm sure our audience is a _little_ more mature than that. Besides, what I'm showing is important to the case." Still unsure, Pit opened his eyes and removed his hands from Pearl's.  
"W-why did you do that?!" Pearl shouted at Pit, who panicked again.  
"Uhh... just don't go searching on DeviantArt without a parent or guardian, okay?" Pit asked back, making Pearl even more confused.

When Palutena revealed her back to the court, everyone could see several scars all over Palutena's back, making just about everyone cringe at the sight of the scars.  
"As you may remember from the footage, these scars are from when Pit forced the Chaos Kin out of my body." Palutena pointed out, but that's when Blackquill slammed his fists onto the prosecutor's desk.  
"Your Baldness, be reasonable! Those scars could very well be on the back of Ms Fey, not the woman she is currently channeling!" He speculated, making the judge question Palutena's honesty.  
" **Objection!** " Shouted Phoenix, before the judge could respond. "Your Honour, you may recall something like this happening in court with me before?" Hearing this the judge shook his head, making Wright sweat a little. "(Well... it WAS a long time ago...)"  
"I'm afraid I don't, Mr Wright." He replied, making both Tower & Blackquill smirk. "Do you have a counter-arguement for the prosecution, or not?" This made Phoenix look through his pockets.  
"Y-yes... I do, Your Honour." Wright responded, before placing a photo on the judge's desk; The photo was of a woman in a detention centre, and she was dressed in the exact same way that Maya was! [*8] "(Thank you, Franziska!) During the recess, Ms Fey gave me this photograph of herself channeling her late sister. As this court may remember, Ms Fey doesn't normally have a mole on her cheek. And it would appear that Ms Palutena doesn't either. Yet the woman in this picture was indeed being channeled by Ms Fey, and she DID have that mole." This still confused a fair amount of people in the courtroom.  
"I'm sorry Mr Wright, but I still don't understand..." Said Pit, feeling like he was speaking for everyone in the gallery.  
"What I'm saying is that if Ms Fey has any kind of skin abnormalities on her back... they are NOT visible while she is channeling someone! **Take that!** " This resulted in Blackquill looking like he had been slashed, like earlier in the trial.

Suddenly, Tower shoved Blackquill aside!  
"Blackquill, you are useless!" He shouted, before turning his attention to the judge. "Your Honour, I demand that you disregard EVERYTHING that has been presented by the accused and the defense!"  
"I don't see why I should, Commander." The judge replied. "The evidence is not only legitimate, but overwhelming." Tower then smacked his fist onto prosecutor's desk, before he made his way to the witness stand, making Palutena step closer to the defense.  
"Fine. If you won't do what I tell you to do..." He muttered, before raising his voice once he was at the witness stand. "...then I guess I'll just have to give my own testimony!"  
" **Hold it!** " Yelled Athena. "What could you possibly testify about? As His Honour already said, ALL of the evidence we've presented makes logical sense! It's OVER." This made Tower slam both of his fists onto the stand in fury!  
"It's over when I SAY it's over!" He screamed, scaring the younger people in the courtroom. "Now I'm gonna testify about what I saw, and you're gonna listen to what I KNOW is the TRUTH!"

Meanwhile, within the sewers or Empire City, the Inklings led the Mario Bros & Princess Peach to a drainage chamber. In the center of the chamber was a large tunnel filled with what looked like different-coloured paint in seperate columns.  
"Oh, dear... I didn't know that Empire City was suffering from pollution like this..." Exclaimed Peach, making Agent 1 chuckle.  
"Nothing to worry about, Your Highness." She told the Princess. "This is an old drainage system for the city. Since they upgraded, we've been using this pipe to travel to and from Inkopolis!"  
"While we need to swim in our corresponding ink, you three can jump into whichever current you want." Added Agent 2.  
"Though you'll _probably_ need to hold your breath..." Agent 1 pointed out as she was adjusting the device in her hand to play music. "Ah, perfect! Jump in, everybody!" All three of the Inklings dove into the respective coloured currents, while Mario jumped into the pink current with Peach in hand, and Luigi dove into the blue current. When the three of them surface, they couldn't see any Inklings. But Mario spotted a silouette he didn't like jumping out of and back into the ink as they swam towards the light...

 _ **Witness Testimony**_ _\- I Know What I Saw!_  
"How can you all believe everything this witch has said?!" Tower angrily began, not impressing anyone in the gallery. "For all we know, Ms Fey could have channeled an impostor who has made EVERYTHING up, INCLUDING her evidence!" The head of GUN then slammed his fists down in anger once again. "I know that the Goddess of Light sent her minions to attack our homes! I watched that angel attack Robotnik with my own eyes!" As he was shouting through his testimony, tears of rage appeared in his eyes. "I know the turth... and NO ONE has the authority to sway me!"

No one in the courtroom looked impressed with Tower's testimony at all... not even the judge.  
"While I am certain that you believe you're telling the truth, Commander..." He began. "...I'm afraid I'm going to need evidence to back up your testimony."  
"I don't have any evidence." Tower replied, before slamming his fist into the stand again. "But I didn't get to be the leader of GUN by lying my way to the top, and I'm NOT gonna start now!" It was then that Phoenix stood upright.  
"Your Honour, may I cross-examine the witness?" He asked, surprising the judge. "Just to put his mind at ease?"  
"By all means, Mr Wright." The judge replied, making Phoenix leave the defense's desk to approach the witness stand.

"I'm sorry, Commander..." Wright began. "...but I'm afraid that none of your testimony is relevant to the facts that have been presented in court today." This confused Tower, which made him angry.  
"How dare you?!" He shouted. "My testimony is bullet-proof!"  
"Is it?" Asked Phoenix, not letting Tower's anger get to him. "For starters, Ms Fey couldn't have messed up channeling Ms Palutena. For a spirit medium like Ms Fey only needs the name and the face of a deceased person in order to channel them." That's when Tower saw his window...  
"Ah, but a god like Palutena isn't really dead, is she?!" He asked back with his face full of smugness.  
"Maybe not, but gods technically aren't alive, either." Stated Wright, startling Tower. "Secondly, all of the evidence that Ms Palutena presented was concrete and legit, showing us that it was the Chaos Kin that was controlling her and her army. Which is why Pit was seen during those three years with a bow of darkness, rather than light or colour."  
"Mr Wright, cease and desist RIGHT NOW... or I will give the order you don't want me to give!" Ordered Tower, threatening Wright... but Phoenix seemed unfazed at all.  
"Finally, Commander... you started the rebellion against the Mobians in Ms Palutena's name!" Wright pointed out. Noticing that he wasn't going to stop, Tower tried pressing a button labelled "CUT LIFE SUPPORT OF IRIS FEY," but it quickly read "CONNECTION LOST." "If you really meant that, then _why_ are you siding against the Goddess of Light now?!" Tower looked to the prosecutor's desk to see no one standing there, which was when his face was turning red with anger, fury and rage.

" **Hold it!** " Shouted a voice from the courtroom doors. When everyone looked in that direction, they saw a man in a blue suit similar to Wright's... only his badge resembled a flag that looked familiar to almost everyone in the courtroom. Everyone stood to face the man when they realised who it was...  
"Who's that, Mr Nick?" Asked Pearl, who seemed as unsure as Pit.  
"It's the President of the United Federation." Wright pointed out as the President made his way deeper into the courtroom, making the gallery start whispering to each other.  
"Mr President!" Exclaimed the judge, as the President approached the judge's desk. "What brings you here, sir?"  
"Your Honour, I must ask you to grant Commander Tower a full and complete pardon." Said the President, shocking everyone in the courtroom. Especially the defense! "It may sound strange to everybody here today, but he has informed me of the impending threat that the Mobians pose... and I must have him leading the charge to put an end to those abominations before they start a revolution!" That statement didn't sit well with the defense... especially with Pit & Palutena.  
"Very well, sir." The judge replied. "But I will still deliver my verdict for the current case."  
"Oh, don't let me stop you from doing that, Your Honour." The President gladly replied, before grabbing Tower by the arm as he made his way out of the courtroom. "Come, Commander."  
"Well... this has certainly been quite the case!" Stated the judge, before turning to the defense. "Mr Wright, there never seems to be a dull moment with you on the defense, does there?"  
"Ah-heh... I guess that's just how I am on a case, Your Honour..." Phoenix replied while nervously scratching the back of his head, making the judge look to the center of the courtroom again.  
"Yes, but now with there being no prosecution present, and all of the evidence and testimonies presented checking out... I am ready to finally make my verdict." Said the judge, making the majority of people on the defense excited. "I hereby declare the defendant... no, defendants, Pit & Palutena of Skyworld... **Not Guilty**." The entire courtroom started cheering for the defense, merely seconds after the judge announced his verdict. "Court is adjourned." With one last slam of his gavel, the case had finally come to an end.

Minutes later, Tower escorted the President into what appeared to be quarters of a GUN airship.  
"Boy am I glad you showed up, M'egga Man... cause I somehow lost my trump card against Wright during the trial..." Said Tower as he closed the door, before hearing a gurgling sound behind him. When Tower turned around, he saw "the President" sinking into a pool of what looked like liquid metal... before a certain blue hedgehog-like robot emerged from the pool! "Mecha Sonic! I didn't expect you to be up and running so soon after your duel with Proto Man..."  
"YOU MAY DISPENSE WITH THE SYMPATHY, COMMANDER." Mecha Sonic pointed out. "I AM ONLY HELPING YOU SO YOU CAN HELP **ME** RESTORE MY POWER..."  
"And I will..." Tower replied. "Once GUN's alliance with the Eggman crumbles as much as his empire..." It was then that Tower received a signal from a GUN soldier. "Talk to me."  
"Commander, w-we just received word from Prison Island..." Said the soldier. "...Ms Fey has disappeared!"  
"I know." Tower replied, surprising the soldier.  
"Sh-should I put out a warrant for her arrest, sir?" He asked.  
"No." Answered Tower. "Her sentence was served a long time ago. Besides... Wright has earned his prize today..."

At that moment, the defense team were full of joy as they had gathered in the defendant lobby... complete with Pearl, Trucy & Athena circling around Pit as he blushed. Seeing this made Phoenix chuckle & Maya giggle.  
"How about that? I may have been late to the party..." Stated Maya, before she leapt into Wright's chest for a hug! "...but we STILL came out on top, Nick!"  
"T-take it easy, Maya! You want me to blush as bright a red as Pit over there?" He asked, making her giggle again before hugging her back. "Still, I'm glad you came back. If it weren't for you and Ms Palutena showing up, Athena & I would've been in real trouble!" That's when Pit suddenly looked up with curiosity, before jumping out of the ring the girls were circling around him.  
"Actually, Mr Wright... Lady Palutena just told me that your payment is on its way." He told Phoenix, moments before everyone saw a beam of light appear in the middle of the lobby... and large pile of different-coloured coins was lowered onto the floor, amazing all of the humans in the area!  
"WOW, that's a lot of coinage!" Exclaimed Athena, before Trucy looked over at Phoenix with a cheeky smirk on her face.  
"See, Daddy? I _told_ you that you'd pay for my cab fare!" She told him with a wink, making Wright roll his eyes with a smile on his face.

Mere seconds later, a woman that Phoenix knew all too well could be seen sitting on a few piles of coins.  
"Iris?" He asked, making her face him with a loving smile on her face.  
"I'm finally free, Feenie." Iris softly said, which was all Phoenix needed to quickly walk towards her, before lifting her from throne of coins and lovingly kiss her as tears flowed down his cheek... a kiss that she gladly embraced and returned with as much emotion as she could. Maya & Pit smiled as they watched the couple reunite -Palutena smiled just as much as she watched them from Skyworld- while Athena was close to bursting into tears herself. Pearl was indeed happy, but she still had her fists clenched which everyone -including herself- was trying to ignore. Trucy however, seemed confused.  
"Daddy? Who's this?" She asked, making Phoenix and Iris break their kiss.  
"'Daddy?'" Iris asked, while looking at Trucy.  
"*sniff* Iris, this is my adopted daughter... Trucy Wright." Phoenix pointed out, before taking his daughter's hand. "Trucy... this is Iris Fey..."  
"Oh. Well, it's great to finally meet you, Mommy!" Exclaimed Trucy, before hugging Iris, making her feel a little awkward... before finally embracing Trucy.  
"I-it's good to finally meet you too, Trucy..." She told Phoenix's daughter, making him happy again.  
"(I honestly never thought I'd see this happen. It's like a miracle...)" He thought, before Maya elbowed him in the arm.  
"Do I hear wedding bells, Nick?" She asked with a cheeky grin on her face, making his face turn bright red.

But there was something that still didn't sit well with Phoenix...  
"I know that look, Boss..." Athena pointed out, making everyone look at Wright. "What's on your mind?"  
"Tower never answered my question... about his role in court today, and when he began GUN's rebellion..." He pointed out, which made everyone think.  
"Yeah... and what the President was saying about the Mobians didn't really add up, either..." Added Trucy, as Palutena said something to Pit. "...especially when I thought he was a huge supporter of human/Mobian relations..."  
"Lady Palutena says the commander is simply being misled down a dark path." Said Pit, getting everyone's attention. "That's actually why she & I have intervened... to stop another Great War before it starts!"  
"Well, we wish you luck, Pit." Maya stated, as Pit's wings started glowing and he was risen from the ground. "And give the Goddess of Light my best!"  
"She already has it, Ms Fey." Pit replied as he flew out of the building. "Uhh, not yet, Lady Palutena. I'd like to make a stop before I return to Skyworld."  
" _Okay, Pit. I definitely owe you this, after all..._ " Said Palutena as he guided Pit's flight path from Skyworld.

Almost immediately after Pit left, Eggman's face appeared on the screen of the lobby, cackling away.  
"Greetings, citizens of Mobius!" He announced, making all of the people in the defendant lobby mad... but much like previous broadcasts, the face of Robotnik could be seen on every screen on Mobius... and not one person watching was happy to see the "good" Doctor... "Behold the FRUITS of my labor..." Just then, playback footage of Monkey Khan's energy being drained was shown worldwide... and everybody watching looked terrified... except Commander Tower. "That Acorn Princess may have cost me the pleasure of watching my Egg Grapes consume their first victim... but I'm making sure **everyone** can watch her brother suffer the same fate! GAH HAHAHAHA!" Suddenly, Eggman smacked his fist on a button, which caused one of the Egg Grapes to light up behind him. Inside it was indeed King Elias Acorn, and he had the same electricity from before striking through him at an alarming rate, horrifying everyone who was watching! Just as the electricity coursing through Elias dimmed to the same amount as what was passing through Monkey Khan, Robotnik reappeared onscreen. "Let this be a warning to _anyone_ who interferes with the capture of Princess Sally Acorn... whether you're Mobian or not." As the transmission ended in the defendant lobby, Iris was holding both Pearl  & Trucy close, since they were scared. Athena was furious at what she just saw, while both Phoenix & Maya just looked angry.

At that moment, back in the ruins of Robotropolis, the Freedom Fighters and their new robotic allies slowly emerged from their dome of junk.  
"Whew, man!" Sonic exclaimed as he stretched his arms. "I'm amazed GUN didn't find us when TodStar was snoring!"  
"Who says I snore?" Asked TodStar.  
"Says me, Sir Snores-a-lot." Sonic replied with his trademark smirk, making TodStar chuckle.  
"Careful, Spiky... I haven't had my morning sugar fix yet..." He warned, making Sonic chuckle as well. Meanwhile Rock looked mesmerised by Zeus' appearance.  
"What?" The grey fox asked.  
"Sorry, but are you really a robot?" Rock asked back. "Because my sensors keep telling me that you're an organic being, much like Sonic."  
"It's... it's complicated. Maybe they'll be a time when we can talk about it..." Zeus replied, intriguing Rock a lot.

Just then, Amy & Lily walked out of the dome, holding each other's hands.  
"Hey... can we hold up a minute? There's something Lily & I need to talk to you guys about." Amy stated, making everyone look back at the two girls.  
"Sure, Amy. What's goin' on?" Asked Sonic.  
"Well, we've been talking about it for a couple weeks, but uhh..." Said Amy, seeming hesitant.  
"Amy & I are in love!" Lily exclaimed while holding Amy close to her, making the pink hedgehog happily blush. There were a few different expressions amongst the group; Sonic seemed like he was in disbelief, Tails & Rock were both confused, TodStar, Cosmo & Roll all smiled back at the girls, while Zeus seemed uninterested.  
"Now, I know this might seem weird, at first..." Amy pointed out, before Sonic stepped forward.  
"Weird? Amy, this feels like another scheme of yours to make me jealous." He told her, hurting Amy emotionally enough for Lily to stand up to Sonic.  
"What on Mobius makes you think you can say that?!" She angrily asked, before Sonic turned his back to the girls.  
"Let's just say this isn't the first time she's stopped chasing my tail." He replied, making Amy fall to her knees with tears in her eyes, which was when TodStar & Cosmo ran to her side.  
"Don't let him get to you, Amy." Cosmo told her, with a loving smile on her face. "I'm happy for you and Lily."  
"Same here, Ames. Sonic's probably just missing Sally, that's all." Added TodStar, before placing his hand on Amy's shoulder. "He'll come around."

As Sonic continued to slowly walk away from the group, Tails and Rock were still confused.  
"I-I don't understand. What's going on?" Asked Tails, before Roll stepped towards him.  
"Your friends Amy & Lily have started dating each other." She told him, making his eyes widen in shock.  
"You can date people of the same gender?!" He asked again, which Roll happily nodded to.  
"Sure. But I thought it was accepted as part of regular society in this timeline..." Added Rock, before Roll gave him a nudge.  
"When exactly did you guys come from?!" Asked Tails, making both Light Robots nervous... until a large fireball flew past in the sky above them! "What was that?!"  
"An escape pod from the Death Egg!" Rock pointed out, as he and Roll continued to scan it. "Sonic! It's got Princess Sally inside!" The blue hedgehog heard Rock's words just as the pod flew above him, making him dart after it! Tails & the Light Robots raced back to everyone else as they helped Amy feel better.  
"W-what was that?" Amy asked, still recovering from the shock. Before anyone could respond, an Egg Shuttle flew above them as well... in the same direction as the escape pod! "Never mind! Sonic's after that fireball, and it must be important if Eggman wants it too!" With her hammer in hand, Amy led the rest of the Freedom Fighters and their allies after the Egg Shuttle... which had just flown over Sonic, making him more determined.  
"Not this time, Ro **butt** nik..." He grumbled, before suddenly Boosting ahead of the Egg Shuttle.

At that moment, Pit was standing in front of a tombstone in an empty graveyard, looking sad as he did so.  
" _I should've known you'd want to come here..._ " Said Palutena, before Pit sighed as he looked at the tombstone that had the following engraved on it; MAGNUS - Warrior, Partner, Friend " _You know that we shouldn't form attachments to life on the surface, Pit._ "  
"I know... but it's just so hard, Lady Palutena." Pit replied as he fell to his knees in sorrow. "Whenever I'm off duty and not doing anything, I can't help but look down here and wish that I could be a part of this world!"  
" _I was exactly the same when I was younger... a close friend and I were so distracted with life on the surface, we didn't notice the danger that lurked until it was too late..._ " Said Palutena, making Pit curious. " _...and that mistake cost my friend dearly..._ " It was then that Pit stood to his feet.  
"*sniff* Did Magnus at least get remembered like he should be?"  
" _I remember seeing a museum dedicated to him, including a replica of you as the ring._ " Pit felt a little uncomfortable about that. " _And his theme music from our last game is also being used as the catch-up theme for Chaos on Mobius' 7th season..._ " This cheered Pit up a little more.  
"Yeah. That's pretty cool." He said, before spreading his arms out. "Okay, Lady Palutena. I'm ready to come home."  
" _I've got a hot spring ready and waiting for you, Pit._ " Palutena replied as a beam of light was shining down on Pit, before he disappeared with it.

Meanwhile, Sonic just spotted the escape pod crash into the Great Plains. Once he was close enough, he leapt towards the wreckage and knocked a cover off with a Homing Attack to see Sally curled into a ball.  
"Sally! Are you all right?!" He asked in a panic, making her look up.  
"Sonic!" Exclaimed Sally, before she leapt out of the pod to hug the hedgehog with happy tears in her eyes. "Oh, thank Chaos you're safe!"  
"Are you OK to fight? Cause we got company..." Sonic replied, turning their attention to the Egg Shuttle. A door on the Egg Shuttle suddenly opened, and two strange-yet-familiar hedgehogs jumped down to face Sonic & Sally. One of them shocked the two heroes. "Shadow?!" The rest of the Freedom Fighters and the Light Robots were approaching fast, but they were stopped when a pink echidna wearing blue landed in front of them. TodStar & Zeus were both in shock by the pink echidna.  
"Impossible..." Was all Zeus could say.  
"...Sora?!" TodStar asked, but the echidna didn't respond, as she seemed focused on Amy & Lily. Rock & Roll aimed their arm cannons at the echidna, but they got distracted when certain red robot teleported in. Only this time, his entire face was covered.  
"Blues?!" They asked in disbelief, as the robot aimed his own arm cannon at them.

END OF CHAPTER


	9. Ch9 Fear, Anger & Sadness

_Episode 144_

Watching the encounter within the Great Plains from his office in Empire City was Mammoth Mogul... and he looked quite pleased.  
"So... the Son of Chaos and the Echidna Goddess reincarnate have finally crossed paths." He muttered. "Just as he foretold..." Mogul then thought back to his life a milennia ago... _He had just witnessed a female echidna crash down onto the planet, and he heard a voice calling to him...  
"_ _ **Give her a burial suited to her title, my desciple...**_ _" Said the voice, making Mogul walk closer to to the ground where he could hear the voice._ " _ **But do not seal her away until you have taken part of her essence... as you will need it to resurrect me in due time...**_ _"  
"But my lord..." Mogul exclaimed as he dusted the ground where he could hear the voice. "...how will I know when to resurrect you?"  
"_ _ **You will know when she meets the spawn of my greatest nemesis...**_ _" The voice replied from the Scepter of Darkness._ Returning to the present day, Mogul opened up a drawer close to him to reveal a vial containing pink fur, which made him grin evilly.  
"You have yet to steer me wrong, Lord Mephiles..." He said to himself as he spun the fur around within the vial.

 _Act 1: Abandonment - Chapter Nine: Fear, Anger & Sadness..._

Meanwhile, in the Great Plains, the Freedom Fighters were ambushed by what appeared to be four lifeforms that appeared from an Egg Shuttle that was landing nearby. Sonic and Sally seemed more focused on what looked like Shadow...  
"Shadow, I thought I'd left you to help the Freedom Fighters. Now you're siding with Eggman?!" Exclaimed Sally, before Sonic stepped in front of her.  
"Not to mention the lousy-lookin' Metal Sonic you've teamed up with!" He added, making his robot doppelganger turn around... but an electric cord was wrapped around the antenna on its head!  
"Ohh, no you don't!" Shouted Tails as he pulled the Sonic imposter closer to him and the girls with the cord. Sonic also saw something close to Tails that made him smile very briefly...  
"You two seem to have mistaken me... just as the Doctor intended." Said "Shadow," confusing Sonic & Sally before his hand started glowing red. "I am Shadow Android!" Immediately after he said that, Shadow Android threw a punch, releasing a missile from his glowing hand! Sonic pushed himself and Sally out of harm's way, but it seemed like Shadow Android was aiming at the escape pod, which exploded when the missile hit it.  
"That's it! You're gettin' a Spin Dash to the face!" Sonic shouted before he raced towards Shadow Android with a Spin Dash... but Shadow Android kicked him up into the air!  
"Hmph. You really are as predictable as I've been programmed to believe..." Shadow Android pointed out while looking up at an angry Sonic... which was when Sally closed in and used one of her Ring-Blades to angrily slice off Shadow Android's right arm!  
"I am NOT dealing with anymore of Eggman's abuse today!" She shouted with tears in her eyes, which Sonic could hear as he was still airborne. "I just escaped from the Death Egg!"  
"I know!" Shadow Android cried in pain as he held his right shoulder. "And I have come to help you."  
"Wrong answer!" Yelled Sonic as he came crashing down onto Shadow Android via a Homing Attack, making a crater in the ground!

Sonic jumped out of the crater before the dust settled, so he and Sally could see Shadow Android still in pain.  
"Please... stop..." The robot said while electricity could be seen jolting out of his right shoulder, but neither Sonic nor Sally were impressed.  
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear you apart..." Sally angrily told him with tears streaming down her face, before picking up Shadow Android by his chest hair. "I came THIS close to losing my boyfriend... that monster you call your creator killed TWO of Mobius' royal leaders... and one of them was my brother! So why in the Realm of Iblis should I keep you functioning?!" Sonic was horrified by what Sally had just said, and he was shocked to see her free hand started glowing gold...  
"Ngh... because... I can help the Son of Chaos fulfill his destiny..." Muttered Shadow Android, loud enough to startle Sonic, as well as make Sally drop the damaged android.  
"Wait... how can YOU help TodStar?" Sonic asked as Shadow Android got to his feet.  
"I promise it will make sense... when I purify his other half..." The robot stated before running away.  
"Hey, get back here!" Shouted Sonic, before he chased after him while holding Sally in his arms!

At the same time within Hyrule Castle, the brave warriors were being tended to by the castle's healers.  
"Forgive me, Your Highness..." Said Percival as she approached Zelda & Impa. "...I couldn't help but notice that you vanished for some time during the battle, only to return to help us defeat Arthur... do your actions explain the sudden appearance of that warrior who healed us with music?" Both Zelda & Impa seemed uncomfortable by this confrontation. Impa even rose up and walked away, leaving Zelda to speak with Percival...  
"The warriors of the Sheikah are mysterious by nature, Dame Percival." She told the Knight of Mercia, grabbing her attention. "Impa is one of few in her tribe that has made herself known."  
"So our savior was another of these Sheikah?" Asked Percival, making Zelda nod.  
"Sheik saved my life a few years ago. Just as Impa did when I was a little girl..." Zelda replied. "It seems that whenever I'm in danger, Sheik is always there to help me whenever Impa is not..."  
"I see." Said Percival, before looking over at Lancelot. "We were lucky that this Sheik arrived when he did. Otherwise Hyrule may have fallen into Arthur's hands..." This made Zelda look a little nervous.  
"Yes. **He** was our saving grace..." She said with a sweatdrop on the side of her face.

While many of the warriors had physical injuries that could be healed with little trouble, Lancelot had suffered a more painful wound in his heart... which was when Link & Lana approached him.  
"I'm sorry for what happened out there, Sir Lancelot." Lana told the hedgehog knight as his head was lowered in shame.  
"I do not blame you, Lana." Lancelot replied, before clenching his fists in anger. "I always suspected that Arthur was possessive of Guinevere... but _this?_ " Just then, Lancelot stood to his feet and held his sword tightly in his hand, startling Lana and Link. "I will find that monster, and free my beloved Guinevere... no matter what it-NGH!" Lancelot suddenly dropped his sword to hold his stomach in pain!  
"Take it easy, Sir Lancelot!" Exclaimed Lana, as she and Link helped Lancelot sit back down. "Even IF you could find a way to the Underworld, you're still recovering from your battle with Arthur... let alone all of that energy you expelled to weaken him!" This made Lancelot look back at his open hand, before clenching it again.  
"Why? Why isn't the Power of Chaos returning to me?" He asked, unaware of what has happened to the Chaos Emeralds.  
"I'll explain later." Lana replied, before Lancelot tried to confront her about it, but she forced him to sit down again. "AFTER your injuries have been tended to..." Not liking the idea of waiting, Lancelot grit his teeth before nodding. While Lana left, Proxi emerged from Link's scarf to float in front of Lancelot.  
"We'll get her back, Lancelot." She told the hedgehog knight. "Just try to be patient, okay?" After Proxi flew back to Link, Lancelot looked out the window of the castle in determination.  
"(The Sprixie is right.)" He thought. "(It may take some time... but I will hold you in my arms again... my dear Guinevere...)"

Meanwhile, in the Great Plains, the Freedom Fighters were ambushed by what appeared to be four lifeforms that appeared from an Egg Shuttle that was landing nearby. Tails, Amy, Cosmo & Lily seemed more focused on the hedgehog that looked like Sonic.  
"It's weird how much he looks like Sonic..." Lily pointed out, making Amy twirl her hammer around in her hands.  
"Good. Cause right now, I need to flatten something that even LOOKS like Sonic..." She grumbled, making Tails a little nervous as he pulled out his extension cord.  
"...lookin' Metal Sonic you've teamed up with!" Sonic said to Shadow Android, making Bionic look back at who he was modeled after. Just then, Tails threw the cord at Bionic, and it wrapped around his antenna!  
"Ohh, no you don't!" Shouted Tails as he pulled the Sonic imposter closer to him and the girls. As Tails pulled the cord back into his hands, Bionic turned his attention back to the fox as Amy & Lily shared a brief kiss... which Sonic caught a glimpse of, and it made him smile briefly.  
"For luck." Amy told Lily, making both girls giggle a little.  
"You want a piece of Sonic? You have to deal with us first!" Tails told Bionic, making them, Amy & Lily assume a fighting stance.

Bionic started by Spin Dashing towards Tails, but the two-tailed fox quickly leapt over it, allowing Amy to send the robot flying into the air with a whack from her hammer! Still in Spin Dash mode, Bionic started building up energy, which Tails & Amy recognized immediately...  
"Watch out! He's gonna use Sonic's Light Speed Attack!" Shouted Tails as he tried flying towards Bionic, while Amy shielded herself with her hammer.  
"Sonic's what?" Lily asked, which got Amy's attention in a bad way as Tails was getting ready to throw his cord. Before he could however, Bionic unleashed its Light Speed Attack... which shoved Tails back down to the ground, as well as smacked both Amy & Lily around. Amy tried to hold her hammer out to defend both of them, but her efforts were in vain. Cosmo was terrified of what was fast approaching her... until she gathered enough courage to summon vines from the earth to keep Bionic pinned to the ground.  
"Whew... good timing, Cosmo!" Lily pointed out as Amy helped her to her feet.  
"Thank you, Lily." Cosmo replied while blushing, as Amy approached the restrained robot with her hammer in her hands.  
"You may not be the real Sonic... but you'll do for this..." She told the robot imposter before repeatedly slamming her hammer down on Bionic, eventually flattening him in the process! Only Amy was still smacking the remains of the Badnik in anger... until Lily stepped in to grab her arms.  
"Amy, stop! It's as flat as a pancake!" She told her partner, making the pink hedgehog hesitate in anger. She then deeply sighed before turning to face her girlfriend with an adorable smile on her face.  
"Okay, I feel better now!" She exclaimed, making Lily a little nervous, as Tails was looking around in confusion.  
"Hey... did anyone see where Sonic or Sally went?" He asked.

At the same time, within Chun-nan, there were many civilians mourning the loss of their king, Monkey Khan... while several Mobian bats were stealing from those people's homes, and just as many lynxes were causing damage to ancient relics and buildings. Watching all of this unfold from a temple atop a mountain were five different Mobian girls, and not a single one of them looked happy...  
"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the Yagyu and Raiju clans?" Asked the dragon filled with anger, making the tortoise grab her hand in an effort to calm her.  
"Several times, Dulcy." She told the tall dragon. "But we must keep our post to defend the temple, as Master Moss instructed." As the tortoise said that, a young pheasant was held back by the side of a white tiger's tail.  
"Aww c'mon, Jian! Why can't I see what's going on?" Asked the pheasant.  
"It's too soon for you to get involved, Cinder." The tiger replied, before looking back at the pheasant. "And I don't want you to go through what I already have..." Cinder then looked at Jian's tail. A tail that looked to be half-roboticized, which made her stop struggling.  
"Y-you're right, Jian. I'm sorry." She told the tiger while bowing before her, as a yellow mongoose was clenching her fists in just as much anger as Dulcy. The mongoose had her black hair tied in a bun by a pair of chopsticks, was wearing a purple dress with yellow flowers on it, black wristbands and purple shoes.  
"I don't know, Bunker..." She said to the tortoise as she watched the carnage down below in anger. "...as much as I hate violence, I am very eager to show those honourless THUGS the way out of Chun-nan..."

"I am afraid that you must keep yourself hidden, Matilda." Said a voice that made the mongoose -as well as everyone else- turn around to face an elderly Mobian sloth with mostly-green fur. "As the newly appointed ruler of this land, it is far too dangerous for you to get mixed up in a mere scuffle." This made the mongoose mad again.  
"'A mere scuffle?' Look around, Master Moss... homes are being looted! Buildings and relics are being damaged beyond repair! People are **dying!** I can't just stand here and do nothing!" She shouted, scaring Cinder.  
"The people need to see their new Princess rise above this disaster, so they can rise from it, as well." Said Moss in return, making Dulcy approach Matilda.  
"Princess, let us go in your stead." She asked. "I've got a fire in my belly that needs to start burning... and it can burn hot enough for two."  
"I appreciate the thought, Dulcy... but King Ken Khan formed the Shijin Warriors. And now that he has passed, I must lead the charge." Matilda replied, making Moss place his hand on Matilda's shoulder.  
"And you shall have your moment, Your Highness. But not this day..." He told her, before looking up to nod at the other girls, making them jump -or fly, in Dulcy's case- down from the temple. Most of them, as Moss caught Cinder before she could join them. "It is still too soon for you to join them as well, young Cinder. You can keep Her Highness company as I meditate on the situation."

As Moss sat closer to the temple doors and calmly closed his eyes, Cinder nevously approached the angry Matilda as she watched Dulcy, Bunker and Jian do what they could to fight off the Yagyu bats and Raiju lynxes; Dulcy breathed fire on a few bats, Bunker delivered a hard punch into a lynx's stomach, and Jian defended herself from a Yagyu's knife with her metal tail.  
"D-do you think you can fulfill King Khan's wish, Your Highness?" Cinder asked.  
"I don't know, Cindy..." Matilda replied, before lowering her head in shame. "I only wish I had the power to stop all of the madness in the world... without violence, even..."  
"Well, Master Moss always says that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step..." Hearing 'Cindy' say that made Matilda smile a little.  
"Yeah... he does say that a lot."  
"It's not my favourite of his sayings, though..." This made Matilda look at Cinder with a surprised look on her face.  
"You have a favourite of Master Moss' sayings?!" She asked the young pheasant.  
"Yup! _Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why it is called the present._ " As Cinder recited the quote, Matilda's eyes widened in realization... which was when she grabbed Cinder's hand and started walking towards the exit.  
"Your Highness, what might you be doing?" Asked Moss, making Matilda look back at him with determination in her eyes.  
"Taking your teachings to heart, Master." She replied, before she jumped down from the temple walls with Cinder gliding right behind her, making Moss shake his head in disappointment.

Meanwhile, in the Great Plains, the Freedom Fighters were ambushed by what appeared to be four lifeforms that appeared from an Egg Shuttle that was landing nearby. Rock, Roll and Rush were horrified to see a certain red-and-grey robot with a shield on his back, aiming his arm cannon at them!  
"This... this can't be..." Rock said in disbelief, making Roll step forward.  
"Blues... why are you working with the Eggman Empire?!" She asked with fear and determination in her eyes. "I thought you had more common sense in your CPU than that!"  
"Blues is gone. I am Break Man." The robot replied to them, with his face completely covered. "And I see the Eggman Empire as a means to an end." Without warning, Break Man fired a shot at Rock, blasting him back a fair bit!  
"Rock!" Cried Roll while Rush yelped in horror as they raced to Rock's side. Break Man was slowly walking after them, with his cannon still aimed at all three robots.  
"My target is you, Mega Man. So activate your Mega Buster and fight me!" He loudly stated, making Roll stand in between Mega Man and Break Man, as Rush helped Rock get to his feet.  
"We're not going to fight our brother!" Roll tearfully shouted with her arms spread out.  
"I'm not your brother... I never was." When Break Man said that, Rock's eyes lit up in realization... making him stand upright in determination.  
"Roll... stay back." He told his twin sister, making her turn around in horror.  
"Rock, you're not seriously going to fight Blues, are you?!" She asked as Rush looked up at Rock in sadness.  
"He says he's not our brother... I want to see if he's telling the truth." Rock replied, before stepping forward. "I'll fight you, Break Man... but I'm not _only_ using my Buster." It was then that Rock's armor switched from blue-and-cyan to pink-and-orange... allowing him to summon what appeared to be a sword of flames in his right hand.  
"Heh heh... this is gonna be fun..." Break Man muttered to himself as he and Rock ran towards each other...

Break Man fired another blast, but Mega Man deflected it with his Flame Sword as he ran in closer to his opponent. Once they were close enough to each other, Break Man tried jumping to shoot Rock, but Mega Man slid under the shot as his armor changed to orange-and-white, and his hands were replaced with what looked like a pair of spikes. Rock took this chance to thrust those spikes up into Break Man's stomach, giving the robot a large amount of damage in the form of voltage! Just as Break Man got to his feet, he fired another large shot backwards as Rock switched back to blue-and-cyan to fire a Charge Shot! It wasn't enough however, as Break Man's now-weaker shot had impacted Rock again!  
"You're gonna have to do better than using Spark Shock to defeat me!" Break Man taunted, making Rock get back on his feet in anger.  
"Okay... now I **know** you're not my brother..." He said to himself as his armor changed to brown-and-white, before he slammed his palm into the ground... and pulled up a large chunk of it, which he threw at Break Man! Break Man tried to shatter it by shooting at the rock repeatedly, but it shattered on him! All of this got Roll thinking... until she spotted one of Shadow Android's arms nearby, as Rock approached Break Man with his armor now lime-and-yellow. Break Man jumped in an attempt to escape, but Mega Man jumped back and turned around to slash at his shield with his hands now acting like claws... only the claws slashed right through the shield and his Break Man in the back!  
"Rock, that's not Blues! It's-" Roll began.  
"I know." Rock replied while firing small pellets at Break Man's back while his armor was back to blue-and-cyan, causing a bit of damage to Break Man's internal systems. When Break Man got to his knees, he saw Rock approaching with his armor now orange-and-yellow, making him aim his Buster at Mega Man... but nothing was happening for him, as Rock replaced both of his hands with Busters... "Your game of charades is over... Copy Robot!" Mega Man then threw his arms to the ground, before two powerful pillars of fire blasted out of his twin Busters, sending "Break Man" flying up into the sky, making him lose his disguise. When he crashed back down to the ground, he looked more like Mega Man... if Mega Man was one of Eggman's robots. Before Copy Robot could move, he was immobilized by psychic energy from Roll whose battle-wear was now silver-and-cyan. However, she was also holding Shadow Android's right arm in her free hand.  
"We should've known Dr Wily wouldn't leave us alone!" She exclaimed as Rush growled. "Now spit it out, Copy Robot! What're you doing here in the past?!" Copy Robot then managed to grab a human handheld gun that he had on him.  
"First of all, it's M'egga Man." He told them while slowly aiming the gun at the three heroic robots. "And second, I'm doing what needs to be done to preserve Dr Wily's future." It was then that M'egga Man teleported away just before Rush pounced on him!  
"He must've scrambled my sensors in that fight... can you track him?" Asked Rock.  
"He must've scrambled his signal before he got here, because I can't trace him either..." Roll replied, as a certain Blue Blur raced past them.  
"Well, now that he's gone, we need to help Sonic. C'mon!" Stated Rock, as he and Rush chased after Sonic. While Roll followed, she couldn't help but look at the arm from Shadow Android that she found...

Within a city that was in the place of Crimson Tower, Agents 1 through 3 emerged from different drains and pipes throughout the plaza with blaring music from the central tower that was streaming a battle of two different colours of ink being spread all over an area... while the Mario Bros had to kick the sewer drains to let themselves and Peach out. Luigi and Peach were amazed by the area they were standing in, while Mario was glaring at all of the different-clothed Inklings they were surrounded by...  
"Welcome to Inkopolis Plaza!" Stated Agent 1, before Agent 3 slowly approached the Princess. "But while we'd love to help you sight-see, we need to take you to Cap'n Cuttlefish." It was then that Mario stood between Peach and Agent 3.  
"Not this time! I know you're working for Bowser!" He exclaimed, making both Agents 1 & 2 groan, as well as confusing Luigi & Peach.  
"Mario, what's gotten into you?" Asked Luigi.  
"Open your eyes, Bro! These Inklings are just Bloopers in disguise!" He angrily shouted, getting the attention of some other Inklings in the plaza.  
"Look, we'll explain everything. Just let us get you someplace safe, first. All right?" Asked Agent 2 as she tried to keep Mario quiet, but the plumber eventually nodded, making the Agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon escort him, Luigi and Peach out of sight...

...into a nearby alley full of what appeared to be empty sea spiral shells.  
"Sorry Bro, but I just can't see the resemblence..." Stated Luigi.  
"That's cause we're in our humanoid forms, as opposed to this..." Agent 1 pointed out, before sinking lower to the ground as she assumed a familiar shape that made Mario grumble, while it terrified Luigi & Peach. It then reassumed the shape of Agent 1. "And that was me in my squid form."  
"So... are you really Bloopers?" Asked Peach, making Agent 3 sigh as Agent 2 stepped forward.  
"We used to be Bloopers." She replied. "No one really knows when exactly, but one day our ancestors were chasing a school of Octoroks out of their master's territory... when both the Bloopers and Octoroks were exposed to a substance you might know today as Mega Muck." [*6] Hearing this made Luigi stick out his tongue in disgust, while Peach shuddered in the same manner. "There were no immediate effects, but those sea creatures soon developed an intolerance to water... and while the Bloopers eventually evolved into the Inklings you see today, the Octoroks became the Octarians."  
"The most evil of creatures that came from the sea!" Added Agent 1, surprising Peach and Luigi.  
"Wow, that was quite a story." Luigi exclaimed, making Agent 1 look at Mario.  
"See? You've got no reason to fear us. We hate Bowser just as much as you do, and we want to help you protect the Princess from GUN." She told him, making Mario nod. Little did any of them know that turtle with glasses perched in a small cloud was spying on them... and he was smirking...

Meanwhile, in the Great Plains, the Freedom Fighters were ambushed by what appeared to be four lifeforms that appeared from an Egg Shuttle that was landing nearby. TodStar and Zeus were staring in confusion at the pink echidna before them...  
"(Impossible... was the mural false, after all?)" Zeus asked himself.  
"(Wow... she's beautiful...)" TodStar thought, before shaking his head. "(Forget that! Why is the Echidna Goddess siding with the Eggman Empire?!)" She was staring, as well. But for a different reason of confusion...  
"(So _this_ is the Suppression Squad...)" She thought. "(...and yet, why do I feel differently about that echidna in front of me?)" It was then that Zeus stepped forward.  
"Goddess Sora..." He began, startling the pink echidna, as neither he nor TodStar knew that her name was Sky. "...why do you side with the evil of Mobius?" Sky responded by disappearing from their sight in a familiar blue flash! "What the..?"  
"Was that... Chaos Control?" Asked TodStar, before the pink echidna reappeared behind Zeus and hit him in the back of the head with a roundhouse kick, making Zeus turn around in anger to see her building up Chaos Energy in her fist.  
"Dr Robotnik is the **savior** of Mobius!" She yelled before punching him in the stomach and sending him flying into the Great Forest! "And I am deaf to all evil on that opposes him." TodStar was worried about Zeus, but he stood his ground.  
"No offence, but you're in the wrong, here." He told her, making her madder as she built up more Chaos Energy in her hand.  
"Chaos Swift!" She shouted as she swung her arm to her side, sending blue-coloured Chaos Spears at TodStar... but he deflected them with his Chaos Wave ability.  
"I am destined to help you break free from the darkness that consumes you." TodStar tried to tell Sky, but she responded with another Chaos Swift that he jump away from, landing just before the bushes of the Great Forest. "Eggman IS that darkness, and he is using you!" Sky suddenly appeared in front of TodStar via Chaos Control and kicked him in the stomach!

"Didn't your parents ever tell you that lying is bad?" She asked TodStar as he winced in pain.  
"My father is dead..." He weakly responded as he slowly tried to move away from the pink echidna. "...and my mother didn't have time to raise me *cough* because she was making sure that I'd help YOU in our future!" This made Sky stop pursuing TodStar, before he spit to his side. "I-ahem... I am the Son of Chaos."  
" **LIAR!** " She angrily screamed as she hit TodStar with a Chaos-fueled uppercut that sent him flying up out of her sight... but she held her hands over her mouth when she heard a loud splash nearby, making her run towards the sound. Sky had stumbled across the Lake of Rings, where she was horrified to see TodStar's hat floating on the water's surface! Without even thinking, the pink echidna dove into the lake and brought the unconscious TodStar up to the surface. But before she resurfaced, she spotted something colourful on the bottom of the lake. After placing TodStar on the edge of the lake so he could get some air, Sky dove back down to get a closer look at what she spotted earlier. She was shocked to see what appeared to be half of a mural; The left side was black, but the right side had a purple background with violet hands reaching for a pink echidna that resembled her! When she reemerged from the lake, she looked at TodStar in confusion. "Is he right? And was Shadow Android telling me the truth, all along?" Suddenly, Sky was swooped from the Lake of Rings by a one-armed Shadow Android! "Wait, what about-"  
"We have to retreat! We're outnumbered, and Bionic has been destroyed!" Shadow Android told her as he raced towards the landed Egg Shuttle. Only Sky couldn't help but look back at where she left TodStar...  
"(Why am I so concerned about that echidna? I know nothing about him...)" She thought, as Shadow Android got the two of them back into the Egg Shuttle... and they took off _just_ before Sonic could jump onboard with Sally in hand! Someone else who was startled by what had just transpired in the Great Plains and Great Forest was Palutena, as she was watching from Skyworld in horror and confusion.  
"How is this possible?" She asked in disbelief. "I watched her fall to her death myself..."

Within the Twilight Cage, Dr Finitevus was busy in the laboratory of the Nocturne, when a Warp Ring suddenly appeared behind the echidna scientist, startling him enough to turn around.  
"What in the..? Who dares to use MY technology in my presence?!" He exclaimed, before a cloaked figure emerged from the Warp Ring.  
"This technology was crafted by your mother in the ancient past..." The figure replied with a distorted voice, but Finitevus was unimpressed.  
"How could you possibly know that? My mother is safely encapsulated in this laboratory." He told the figure while pointing towards a large tube nearby.  
"I have done everything I can to prevent the space-time continuum from being completely disrupted..." Said the figure. "...but in doing so, I may have sealed my own fate... unless you heed my advice, and send your mother to Mobius immediately."  
"Why?" It was then that the figure removed the hood from their head, shocking Finitevus when he saw the face of a female echidna that looked as white as he was. "Mother?" She nodded in response, confusing Finitevus. "But... that doesn't make sense!"  
"It doesn't have to make sense if you listen to me, son." Said Finitevus' mother as she looked out the window. "An army of highly-technological monkeys will arrive at any moment, and they will destroy the Nocturnus Clan. And as selfish as it sounds, I must do what I can to save myself... and the future of Mobius!"

Just before Finitevus could respond, he and his mother noticed a large flash of light from outside the window. While his mother was horrified by what she saw, Finitevus' eyes widened with curiosity when he saw a large portal had appeared in the middle of the Twilight Cage... and emerging from the portal was an entire planet filled with dust, advanced techology, and evil. Not threatened in the slightest, Finitevus pressed a button by the exit of the laboratory.  
"Commanders, conquer that planet for the Nocturnus Clan!" He yelled with enthusiasum, before his mother placed her hand on his shoulder, making him turn around.  
"THAT is where the army comes from!" She warned him. "You must heed my warning, my son!" While sighing, Finitevus threw one of his Warp Rings at the capsule, making the Ring consume it before vanishing from sight. Just then, explosions could be heard and seen from outside... but emerging from the explosions were fighter ships unfamiliar to Finitevus... and he was startled when they started firing on the Nocturne, causing damage to the entire floating landmass!  
"W-what have you brought upon me, you witch?!" He angrily asked while using another Warp Ring to consume half of his mother! However, she was unfazed by her son's threat.  
"This was done by another being from the other side of our universe." She told him while throwing her arm down towards the Warp Ring, shattering it in the process! While her son was dealing with shock, she opened up a Warp Ring of her own behind her, leading to an area filled with nothing but white. "It's already too late. Farewell, my son."  
"Wait! You can't just leave me here!" Finitevus yelled as he ran towards the Warp Ring... but it vanished with his mother inside before he could get through! Finitevus could only look at the planet in the center of the Twilight Cage in anger and fear... as he could hear the screams of dozens of Nocturnus soldiers, while he saw several unknown fighters were flying towards him... and shooting at him.

At that moment, back in the Great Plains, Sonic had just landed back down on the ground with Sally in hand, as the Egg Shuttle had just flown out of their reach.  
"Darn it!" Exclaimed Sonic.  
"Can't you just chase after them without carrying me, Sonic?" Sally asked, as Sonic spotted a beam diving into the Great Forest.  
"Hold that thought, Sal." He told her, before dashing towards the beam. "I think Eggman just shot something at Knothole!" Just when Sonic and Sally emerged from the trees and skidded into Knothole, they saw a certain GUN leader firing a gun into a home that Sonic knew all too well... "Tower!" Putting Sally down, Sonic dove at Commander Tower, making the two roll away from the house.  
"Sonic! I'll see what happened in your place!" Sally shouted at Sonic, who had started punching Tower at a rapid rate!  
"What... are you doing... shooting... at... my... family?!" The blue hedgehog angrily yelled while smacking Tower in the face. After Sonic stopped his barrage, Tower turned his head to face Sonic with an unusual smirk on his face, which startled Sonic.  
"I did what needed to be done to save the human race." Tower replied, before shoving Sonic off of him with little to no effort, and getting back on his feet. "From now on, GUN stands united against ALL life on Mobius that ISN'T human!"  
"Not if I bring you down, first!" Shouted Sonic, before building up a Spin Dash... but Tower teleported away in a beam of light before Sonic could hit him! "No, you don't..." Thinking that Tower was headed back where they found him, Sonic raced back to his house...

When Sonic stopped in front of the window, he saw Sally look up at him with tears in her eyes as she held a pale-blue hedgehog... this sight scared Sonic enough to jump through the window, but he was horrified when he saw his Uncle Chuck next to the window. Sonic then took Sally's place to hold his weak mother tight, and rest her head in his lap.  
"Mom?! C'mon Mom, stay with me..." He said as tears formed in his eyes, as well. Bernadette looked up at Sonic with a weak smile on her face.  
"Sonic... I'm so proud of you..." She told him as she cupped her hand over his cheek with all the strength. "No matter what happens... I will _always_ think of you... as my perfect son... Sonic..." Just as she said that, Bernadette's hand lowered from Sonic's cheek, and he noticed that she was now lying motionless over him.  
"Mom? MOM?!" Cried Sonic while gently shaking her with tears falling onto her face, but she wouldn't wake up. "No... oh, sweet Chaos, no!"  
"Oh, Sonic..." Sally tearfully said, as she wrapped her arms around Sonic from behind him. Sir Charles fell to his knees and sobbed as Sally stood over Sonic as they all cried over the loss of Bernadette Hedgehog...

END OF ACT 1


End file.
